Forward Momentum
by AniPendragon
Summary: A month after Endgame, the Team is busier than ever. Foes both new and old wreak havoc across the planet, while the threats of the Light, Lex Luthor, and the War World loom above the Team with their uncertainty. With so many mysteries there is no time for second guesses, and one misstep may yet destroy them all. Welcome to Season 3.
1. Surface Tension

**Author's Note:** When Young Justice was cancelled I, like many people, was devastated. This was a show I had devoted several years of my life to and watching it end broke my heart. To that end, I have finally written a "season three" continuation story which strives to tell the tale of what happened after the finale in what I hope is a believable and entertaining way.

Greg Weisman once said that his goal for Young Justice was to distill the best parts of the DC Universe into one cohesive world. It is my hope that I have done Weisman justice and kept the intent and feel of the original series intact.

 _Forward Momentum_ contains many characters and storylines from the comics, with inspiration and characterization pulled from various incarnations of comics, live action and animated movies and shows, and video games, with more than a few love letters to the DCAU thrown in. **This story does not contain OCs.**

Young Justice is a series that continues to touch my heart to this day, and it is my belief that I have created a story that does the original series justice. And it is my hope that all of you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed creating it.

Thank you.

 **Warnings:** Swearing, canon-typical violence, discussion of sexuality, death and discussion of death, brief descriptions of torture, and descriptions of injury. Individual chapters will be marked as needed. If you require more warning, please send me a private message. **May contradict tie-in comics.**

 **Relationships:** While the focus of the story is not on romance, some relationships will be part of it. Canon relationships as of the finale, such as Mal/Karen, remain, while hinted relationships are not canon, at least at first. Sexualities may be changed where not 100% confirmed by Greg Weisman himself, with bisexual, gay, and lesbian characters littered throughout.

Other pairing include Bart/Jaime, M'gann/Conner, and Kaldur/Roy. However, no pairing is instrumental to the story, so not shipping something should not deter you from reading.

 _Forward Momentum_ updates every other Thursday.

* * *

 _The battle is won, but the war is far from over._

 _Welcome back to Young Justice._

* * *

 **Chapter One: Surface Tension**

 _The Watchtower. August 9_ _th_ _, 09:16 EDT_

For the second time in two months, the Watchtower round table was surrounded by Justice League members as a meeting got underway. Led by the Trinity, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, the discussions had ranged from budget cuts to public image, but now the main topic finally got underway: the troubling Zeta-Beam activity.

"I am not a Zeta-Beam expert," Wonder Woman was saying, "But the recent activity regarding the beams is incredibly troubling. Without proper intel, we could be looking at a compromised transport system, or worse."

Batman nodded. "Agreed. It is my recommendation that we temporarily shut down the Zeta-Beam transports. There are several ships that could ferry us to and from the Watchtower, including my own. It shouldn't be a problem."

A few of the Justice League members nodded, several murmured to one another. Hawkman, however, voiced his protest.

"This is unnecessary, the Zeta-Beams have always been safe and they still are."

"And you can say that after everything that happened in the last six months?" asked Black Canary. She scoffed and turned her attention back to the head of the table. "I, for one, agree with Batman. If the beams are compromised we could all be in grave danger. And as Chairman of the League, I believe we should shut down the Zeta-Beams."

More discussion continued in small groups. Zatanna and Rocket spoke in hushed tones together, whispering of spells and combination attacks that could find out what was wrong with the beams. Captain Marvel joined in after a moment, offering his own nigh-unlimited magic to fuel the spell for Zatanna. Which, in turn, led to a quiet discussion on other spells that Zatanna could use Marvel's magic for.

From the head of the table, both Batman and Black Canary noticed the demure nature of Marvel's body language – uncharacteristic but understandable, given his recent trauma. Black Canary made note to ask Captain Marvel if he would be willing to talk to her later.

"Are you capable of dispelling magic, Captain Marvel?" asked Zatanna. There was a hesitation in her voice that gave Batman and Black Canary pause. A hopeful question that lingered under the surface. The two senior members glanced at one another.

But before Captain Marvel could respond, the meeting was called to order, with Superman at the focus.

He spoke in a booming voice that filled the large room. "I just don't want to act rashly," said Superman to the League. "We've faced plenty of villains before, a few more isn't going to kill us. Especially not with everything we've learned in the past few years."

Batman scowled. "The War World could wipe out the League at any given time. If not for the Reach, a third of its weapons would have reached Earth, regardless of what we did." He held his chin high. "A hemisphere would be destroyed, Superman. And without knowing where Vandal Savage is with the War World, or why he declared Earth off-limits on Rimbor, we cannot afford to let our guard down." His scowl deepened and his gaze locked with Superman's. "One victory doesn't win the war against crime."

"If you start preaching about the poetry of crime and justice again, I'm leaving," said Superman, an uncharacteristic smirk on his face. He leaned forward in his seat and rested his elbows on the table. "I don't see what there is to worry about. When the League came together, we defeated an alien invasion. Our sidekicks managed to do the same thing without us." He leaned back in his seat. "As far as I'm concerned, after the Reach, the MFDs, and the War World, the Zeta-Beam activity is a minor problem, one I'm sure Adam Strange and STAR Labs can easily track down and help us fix."

"Not sidekicks," chimed Zatanna and Rocket in unison. Superman glanced at them out of the corner of his eye, but said nothing. His attention remained entirely on Batman.

Still scowling, Batman said, "If you'll recall, the invasion that brought the League together nearly wiped us out before we began. If not for well-timed treachery in the ranks of the Thanagarians," he nodded to the Hawks, "We would not have won, nor survived, and the Justice League and planet Earth would have fallen to the Appellaxians."

"And what does it say that the side-" Superman paused, glanced toward Rocket and Zatanna, and corrected himself with, "-kids could defeat the Reach with little interference from us? The heavy hitters of the Justice League were gone and they managed just fine." He shook his head. "I think we're blowing this out of proportion." Zatanna's expression matched Batman's own. The insinuation that the Team was worse than the League was a low blow, even from someone as confident as Superman.

"It simply proves what I've said for the last six years," replied Batman.

Wonder Woman raised an eyebrow. "And what's that?" she asked.

"The Team is shaping up to better heroes than we ever were or could hope to be. In five, ten years, each of them will have completely eclipsed us. Many of them already have," said Batman. There was a long moment of silence after Batman spoke. Yes, it was well known that he thought highly of the Team, regardless of how often he said as much, but it was rare to hear such a blatant praise from the dark knight. He remained unmoved, still scowling, still confident, while the others absorbed the information.

Superman shook his head. "You think they're better than us?"

"I think most of them are," said Batman. "Including your own."

"Superboy is my brother, not my-"

" _Conner_ is shaping up to be one of the greatest heroes of our time and is already an incredible young man and older brother. I, for one, am honoured to have had part in that," said Batman. He lifted his head, as if daring Superman to reply. "You may spend time with him, Superman, but you still don't know anything about him."

Superman grit his teeth. "That's not what this is about." He clenched his fists on the table. "And if you want to talk about _parenting_ …"

"Enough," said Wonder Woman. She banged her fist on the table. "We are here to discuss Zeta-Beams, not engage in your _dick_ measuring contests." Her voice was a growl, effectively destroying all idle conversation and fidgeting around the table. To their credit, Superman and Batman did not react. They simply scowled at one another.

"The Zeta-Beams are fine," said Superman. "We're leaving them up."

"We're putting this to a vote," said Batman. "Like teams are supposed to."

"Oh so now you're an expert on teams?" asked Superman. He let a sound that was half scoff and half laugh. "That's rich, coming from you."

Batman grit his teeth and his voice dropped a pitch when he spoke. "At least I raised _my_ prodigies."

Superman growled. "At least I didn't get mine _killed._ "

"Superman!" Black Canary's voice exploded from next to the Trinity. The attention of the entire table was on Superman and Batman and the statement the former had last said.

Batman nodded, pressing his lips together. "So that's what this is about," he said. He shook his head. "You think I'm compromised."

"With everything going on in Gotham lately, yes," said Superman. "You obviously aren't taking care of yourself, even if I'm the only one with the senses to tell. Your oldest is gallivanting across the planet without any way to track him, and if he mourns anything like you, I fear for those that cross him, and your youngest is so shaken he shouldn't be running missions." Superman placed his hands on the table and curled them into fists. "And now some trigger-happy hoodlum in Gotham has you chasing after ghosts!" Superman's voice grew into a shout throughout the last sentence. Half the League cringed back. Batman didn't move.

"If you think I'm compromised," said Batman slowly, standing up. "Put in a vote to have me put on reserve." He leaned over the table toward Superman. "But don't you _dare_ bring my kids into this. They don't deserve your judgement." A pause. "No one does." With a swish of his cape, Batman headed back toward the Zeta-Beams.

In the background, Black Canary was arguing with Superman that the latter had gone too far. Superman said no; Black Canary said yes. Batman let their voices tune out as he approached the Zeta-Beam.

Superman's opinion was inconsequential. So was the rest of the League's. If they wanted to keep discussing Zeta-Beams and past mistakes, so be it. There was a hood loose in Gotham. And Batman needed to find him.

* * *

 _El Paso. August 9_ _th_ _, 15:22 MDT_

In the deserts of El Paso, Jaime Reyes and Bart Allen raced across the hot red sand. Bart pulled ahead easily, his sneakers smacking the ground and leaving dust trails that arched into the air and left his eyes tingly and dried out. He left his googles on his head. Behind him, Jaime sped through the sky, the scarab's wings buzzing in a desperate attempt to catch the speedster.

Skidding to a stop, Bart laughed, head tossed back and hair full of dust and sweat.

"That was great, Blue!" said Bart. He danced around Jaime as the older teen touched down. "Wanna go again?" Jaime retracted his wings and faceplate, raised an eyebrow at Bart, and shook his head.

"Ese, I've been beaten in enough races today to last a lifetime," said Jaime. Bart shrugged.

"Hey, win some, lose some." Bart grinned, teeth flashing. "And you always lose some!"

Jaime smacked Bart on the back of the head, but he was laughing alongside Bart. "I'll never understand you, hermano."

Bart shrugged again. "I'm mysterious like that." He slicked back his hair with one hand before snapping finger guns at Jaime. "Part of my charm."

Jaime raised an eyebrow, watching Bart with an incredulous expression long enough for Bart to blush. "Right," said Jaime, drawing out the vowel.

In the distance, several trucks lumbered down an old dirt road, drawing the attention of both teens. They were unmarked vehicles with grey and white paint, and an odd red symbol pasted above their back right tire. Neither teen could make out the symbol.

 _Transport vehicles are unauthorized in this area, Jaime Reyes,_ said Scarab.

"Should we check it out?" asked Jaime.

Bart grinned, dropped his goggles over his eyes, and took off running. "Race you there!" The wind only just carried the words back to Jaime. Jaime dropped his face plate and took off after Bart, following him as they swung toward the trucks. There were three of them and the closer Jaime got, the more details he could make out in the trucks. The first one war armoured, the second was obviously a goods transporter, and the third seemed to be a combination of the two. They were well equipped for road robberies, but not for stealth based superheroes.

Bart ran up behind the trucks, careful to stay in the drivers' blind spots, and jumped onto the bumper. He climbed up to the thin ledge before the door and held on tight. Jaime swooped in behind him and together the two pulled up the door to peer inside.

Secured boxes and crates were stacked high in the truck, with a single guard perched on a bolted chair to watch them. She looked up when the teens entered the truck. But before she could shout a warning, Jaime sent a sonic wave at her, knocking her out.

"Way crash," said Bart. He zipped over to one of the boxes and pulled it open. Jaime glanced back out the door, keeping an eye on the desert as it rushed past them. Being in the last truck meant they didn't have to worry about the other trucks seeing them, but he worried that they might have a scout or a trailing vehicle somewhere along the road. Seeing as the desert roads often doubled back on one another, it was also a possibility that the first truck would get the chance to see the third one before long.

"Let's not wait too long, ese," said Jaime. Bart gave him a thumbs-up and pulled a vial from the box. He lobbed it at Jaime, who immediately set to work on scanning it.

"What do you think, Scarab?" asked Jaime aloud. Bart kept digging in the boxes.

After a moment, the scarab replied, _"It is a neo-steroid combined with unknown specimens of animal."_

"Neo-steroid," echoed Jaime. With a frown, he glanced at Bart, who had cocked his head to one side thoughtfully.

"Doesn't Bane use one of those?" asked Bart. Glancing over the boxes, Jaime nodded. If this was a Bane shipment, then that meant this was Venom. But what was it doing all the way out here?

The truck took a sharp turn, sending Bart and Jaime sprawling into one another and out the truck. Jaime tucked and curled around Bart, capturing the vial in one fist and hanging onto Bart with the other. Curled close, he felt the ground yank at his suit, but he stayed on his back to keep Bart from harm.

When they stopped, so did the trucks, and the drivers and guards were getting out of the cabs.

Bart leapt to his feet and pulled Jaime up with him. The two stood shoulder to shoulder as the various armed men moved toward them.

"You take the left, I'll take the right," said Jaime.

Bart's eyes narrowed and he smirked. "Crash." Like a shot, Bart took off across the hard-packed sand, tearing toward the men on the left. He slammed into each one faster than Jaime could see, sending them careening into their trucks or into the dirt. Jaime pulled out his sonic cannon and blasted the guards. Three went flying. He switched to staples, slammed the others into the trucks, and swooped toward Bart.

Shots rang out in the desert. Bart skid around each blast of the gun before sliding in close and nailing the man with an uppercut to his jaw. The man fell backward, unconscious.

The two heroes cheered and hi-fived over the writhing, mostly unconscious bodies of the guards and drivers.

"We'll get the police to pick these guys up," said Jaime. "But let's call the League. Scarab said something about animal specimens in the Venom, I don't think that's normal."

Bart nodded. "Yeah, dude, and why is Bane even operating all the way in El Paso? He's Gotham! I mean, like, he technically spreads out, what with the whole Caribbean thing. But still!"

Jaime pressed his lips together, though Bart couldn't see it, and flicked on his comm link. "Something's not right, hermano, let's call the League and sort this out."

* * *

 _The Watchtower. August 9_ _th_ _, 18:11 EDT_

Dinah sat in the straight-back chair; her jacket hung over the back. Across from her, in his uniform and a black and red hoodie that had seen better days, Kaldur'ahm fiddled with the webbing of his hands, looking everywhere but at Dinah.

"You've been making progress in these sessions," said Dinah, struggling, not for the first time, to start a conversation with the Atlantean. "And I believe the Team has come to trust you once more. Even La'gann, and I'm sure you know how hard it is to come by his trust."

Kaldur nodded mutely, his lips pressed tightly together. He said nothing, merely stared at the tiles on the floor.

Dinah leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and her chin on the backs of her laced-together hands. "Kaldur. You know the purpose of these sessions is for you to tell someone what is bothering you. Please, let me help." She offered him a sympathetic smile, full of soft eyes and an easy posture.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the words began to trickle out of Kaldur. "I fear… that I have not earned their trust. I fear that I am unworthy of being their leader. Nightwing's absence is… understandable." He stopped, blinked, pressed his lips together so tightly they turned white, and then continued. "But the Team is still in mourning… and so am I." He sighed, a soft sound that made his gills flutter against his neck. "Their trust is ill-gotten. I have done nothing to deserve it. And I have done nothing to deserve this position."

Dinah was tempted to reach out and touch Kaldur's knee, but she knew from previous experience that he did not take well to unprovoked physical contact.

"Kaldur, you have led the Team for over a month since Wally's death," she said, careful to catch his gaze and hold it. "You have done everything to earn their trust. They know why you worked with Black Manta now and they don't hold it against you." Her head shook in time with her words. Her gaze remained steadfast and encouraging.

"Perhaps," conceded Kaldur. His shoulders were so far slumped that Dinah had to wonder if it was painful.

"I sense that's not all that's bothering you," said Dinah.

Kaldur was silent for several minutes. He folded his hands together and stared at the ceiling. Then, "I have not spoken with Roy since our final mission against the Reach."

Licking her lips, Dinah nodded. Yes, that made sense. She shifted in her chair, leaning into the hard surface and trying to ignore the slight squeak the leather made when she moved. The cushion was soft, but the rest was not, leaving Dinah with a sore back in every session.

It was worth it, to get Kaldur to talk. This was the only room in the Watchtower with fish. As if on cue, the wall aquarium behind her bubbled. Kaldur's eyes followed fish out of Dinah's sight and, for a moment, she saw a light return to his gaze. It faded when he looked back at her, but Dinah was still grateful to see it, if only for a few seconds a session.

Once more, she silently thanked Aquaman for letting them use his mostly unused quarters for these sessions.

"Roy came when you called him," said Dinah. "I don't believe he holds any grudges against you, Kaldur."

Kaldur's lips twitched into something between a grimace and a self-depreciating smirk. "Roy is not known for his ability to forgive, Black Canary."

"Dinah," she corrected for, she supposed, the tenth time this session. Kaldur did not acknowledge her correction.

"He has every right to hold ill-will toward me, and I cannot find fault in that." Kaldur's gaze became hooded. "If I were him, I would not forgive myself either."

And that was the root of the problem, thought Dinah. No matter how many missions Kaldur completed; no matter how many people he helped; he was simply not willing to forgive himself for all the damage that he had caused as Sting Ray. Dinah knew that Kaldur had not told the League all he had done while he was working with Black Manta and the Light. She also knew that those things could not have been acceptable in Kaldur's mind, much like how he still skirted around the Kroloteans and the bomb planted in their base. Kaldur blamed himself fully for their deaths, and Dinah had yet to make any significant breakthrough regarding that event.

"Roy cares about you, Kaldur," said Dinah, carefully choosing her words. She spoke slowly, evenly, so as to not spook the already distressed man. "He has asked Ollie and I about you a few times since the Reach left."

Kaldur's expression flickered. For a moment, Dinah saw something in his eyes. Hope? Fear? Elation? She couldn't be sure. Perhaps it was all three.

"I know he wants to see you," said Dinah. "And I think it would be good for both of you to sit down together and just talk. You both harbour negative emotions toward one another for what you did – whether it was Roy's actions in finding his original or the actions you took to take down the Light." She tugged at the ring on her pinkie finger. "But I do not believe you two hold grudges. You need to talk to one another. That will help you both immensely."

Kaldur sighed, looking uncharacteristically vulnerable in his current position on the water-stained leather couch. "Truthfully, Black Canary, I wish I could believe that." Without another word, Kaldur stood and walked to the door. There, he paused.

"May I?" he asked, his voice still forlorn and pitched low.

"Yes," said Dinah. With that, Kaldur left the room. Once the door closed behind him, Dinah leaned back in her seat and scrubbed a hand across her face. If there was a way to break through to Kaldur, Dinah had yet to find it. And that, more than anything else, left her feeling guilty and hollow at the end of each of these sessions.

* * *

 _Blüdhaven. August 9_ _th_ _, 23:56 EDT_

Heavy storm clouds thundered and flashed overhead, leaving only a faint splattering of light in Blüdhaven. The rain had yet to fall, but such burdened clouds would soon pour upon the earth, wiping clean the dirt and grime that plagued such a large and dark city.

 _If only all grime could be washed away so easily_ , thought Nightwing with more than a touch of bitterness. He was perched high above the city, tucked onto one of the styled beams that lingered along the edges of the Blüdhaven clock tower. From this high up, he couldn't see any crime properly, but that wasn't the purpose of his being on the tower.

Because, from this height, he could use the lens in his mask to scan for lingering Zeta-Beam signatures.

It wasn't that Nightwing expected to find any. He'd spent the last week scanning Gotham, Central, and Blüdhaven for out of place Zeta-Beams, but had yet to come across even whispers of a misplaced trail. When he wasn't scanning cities, he was skimming science records that STAR Labs had provided him with – although they refused to give him the more sensitive documents without a Justice League warrant. Which, while a good security feature, had made Nightwing want to shake them down for information.

With a sigh, Nightwing drew himself up to his full height and turned off his scanning lens. Staring down at the crime filled city, Nightwing wondered if Batman ever saw Gotham like he did Blüdhaven – crime ridded, pathetic, and wallowing in its own filth. There was no difference Nightwing could make and, most days, he didn't know why he tried.

Getting a running start, Nightwing leapt off the beam and dove toward the ground. The wind rushed up around his face and wiped his hair around. He closed his eyes, allowed the weightlessness to carry him. For a moment, he was flying. For a moment, he was free.

Eyes snapping open, Nightwing shot off a grapple and swung in a graceful arc before touching down on a nearby rooftop. He retracted the grapple while staring out at the city. Somewhere, whether in this city or another, he would find the answers he needed. Zeta-Beams were the key, Nightwing knew that. And he would do everything he could to find all the information about them in the world.

Footsteps to his left. Nightwing turned, body already shifting into a defensive position. Standing half obscured in the shadows was Roy – the older Roy. His own red hair was blowing in the same breeze that left Nightwing's hanging in his face.

"Hey, Dick," said Roy. "Can we talk for a second?"

Nightwing scowled. "Codenames," he said sharply, already turning back to the city. There wasn't another good grapple place from this angle, but he could beat Roy in parkour any day.

"Look, it's not like someone sent me, alright?" said Roy. "I wish someone had, because I'm pretty sure that even exhausted you can still kick my ass over the side of this roof." Nightwing raised an eyebrow and turned back toward Roy. He folded his arms across his chest and gestured for Roy to continue.

"Right, well." Roy rubbed the back of his neck. He took a step forward, coming into the faint light from a nearby billboard. It streaked Roy and the leaf splattered rooftop in shades of pale blue and violent yellow.

"Do you have a point to being here?" asked Nightwing. "I have work to do."

Roy snorted. "I'm sure."

With gritted teeth, Nightwing snapped, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Look at you," said Roy. "You don't look much better than I did when you and the League cornered me on one of these rooftops months ago." Roy shook his head. "Dick, you're running yourself into the ground chasing after ghosts."

Nightwing fought the urge to snarl and just barely managed it. Hot anger bubbled up in his stomach and begged him to attack Roy.

"I am not chasing after ghosts," said Nightwing. His voice quavered with his self-control, lifting and lowering before he finished.

Roy scrubbed his fingers through his hair. "Dick. You need to accept that Wally is dead."

"He is not!" shouted Nightwing. He threw one arm wide. "There was no body! No blood! Nothing to check! One second he was there, the next he was gone." Nightwing's voice dropped to a snarl that would have made Batman jealous. "Until I see Wally West's body I refuse to accept that he is dead."

"And what are we supposed to do?" Roy shouted back. "Bury you when you kill yourself chasing after nothing?"

Nightwing let out a sharp, bitter laugh. "Don't you try and guilt trip me. You pulled the same _bullshit_ when you were looking for your mini-me."

"That's because I knew he was alive!" snapped Roy. His shoulder muscled rippled in his jacket. Nightwing's training was already picking out the flaws in Roy's stance. He could have the man on his back and at his mercy in seconds.

"And I know Wally is too," said Nightwing. He forced himself to breathe. He was not going to fight Roy over this. Even if every inch of him was _begging_ to attack someone, _anyone._

For a moment, Roy faltered. His gaze softened from angry to sympathetic, the corners of his eyes wrinkling and his eyebrows drawing together over his nose.

"You're going to die." The words were soft, but they carried across the rooftop and to Nightwing. They tugged at his ears and at his eyes until he felt his stance falter for a brief moment.

In a voice just barely above a whisper, Nightwing said, "Then I die." A crooked smile was a harsh contrast to the anger in his veins and the tears in his eyes. "It'd be worth it. To find him."

Before Roy could reply, Nightwing turned, leaped off the building, and disappeared into the night.


	2. Distributive Justice

**Author's Note:** Thank you everyone for all the follows, reviews, and favourites for chapter one. Feedback for this chapter is, of course, highly appreciated. Every review makes me smile!

* * *

 **Chapter Two: Distributive Justice**

 _The Watchtower. August 12_ _th_ _, 19:00 EDT_

The holographic computers of the Watchtower displayed images of LexCorp buildings, coordinates leading to various locations in Metropolis, and a handful of lines of data that only brushed the surface of what the Scarab had gleaned from the trucks in El Paso. Standing in a semi-circle around the computers were Bumblebee, Blue Beetle, Tigress, and Kid Flash, and each person gave their full attention to Aqualad. He stood next to the computers and listened as the various heroes relayed their information to him.

"Lex Luthor and LexCorp are distributing their soft drink to two distinct locations," said Tigress. "One is going to a basic distribution plant, which is normal."

"But the other is so not normal," chimed in Bumblebee. "It's a warehouse in Metropolis. Apparently owned by a company called Economic Distributions."

Aqualad nodded, flicking his fingers across the computers. A moment later all but one set of coordinates had disappeared. "A shell company, no doubt. Good work."

Blue Beetle spoke next. "The Scarab said that the trucks Bart and I found from El Paso were from Metropolis. He tracked the coordinates and they're coming out right next to that warehouse." He frowned, folding his armored arms across his chest. "Do you think it's related?"

"I do," said Aqualad. "Lex Luthor and the Light, despite their broken status, are no doubt planning to use the Reach's soft drink and Bane's Venom in tandem. This warehouse may hold the key to what they are using it for."

"Oh, oh!" said Kid Flash, bouncing on his heels. "Don't forget about the weirdness going on in the Venom. Jaime said it had animal DNA or something."

Aqualad nodded and studied the computers, his eyes flicking to the Scarab data that no doubt said just that. The computers were still working on decrypting the data and Scarab had not been forthcoming in aligning himself with their technology so physically.

"Another mystery then," said Aqualad. "One to be solved as soon as possible."

He turned his attention back to the others and nodded to them.

"Good work, Team," he said. "Our next course of action is inspecting both the warehouse and LexCorp's public distribution partner."

"That one seems pretty normal to me," said Bumblebee.

Tigress frowned and said, "Yeah, but Luthor has the money to create his own distribution team, so why isn't he?"

"Precisely," said Aqualad. He flicked his wrist, drawing up a keyboard between himself and his teammates. "I'll contact Superboy and Wonder Girl, they will inspect the warehouse in Metropolis as alpha squad." He nodded to Bumblebee. "Bumblebee and Blue Beetle, you will be beta. You will inspect the distribution plant LexCorp is working with."

"Go in for a tour…," said Blue Beetle.

"Sneak off for the intel," finished Bumblebee. The two nodded to each other.

"Tigress, Kid Flash, you two will be gamma. There have been sightings of Klarion in Vancouver. I want you to inspect the coordinates and report back. Do not engage," said Aqualad.

Kid Flash saluted Aqualad while Tigress merely nodded.

"Let's go to work!" said Kid Flash, grinning.

* * *

 _Metropolis. August 12_ _th_ _, 21:38 EDT_

Neither Superboy nor Wonder Girl was terribly impressed with the warehouse that Aqualad had sent them to. The outside was dark and dank, with only a pair of guards circling the perimeter with semi-automatics. The two watched the guards for a few minutes from the rooftop of the next warehouse. Then, nodding, they both leaped from the roof. Wonder Girl soared across the gap, touching down on the next rooftop without so much as stirring the dust. Superboy's enhanced jump carried him from one roof to Wonder Girl with little difficulty. His boots stirred the dust when they touched down and not much else.

They nodded to one another, a giddy smile pulling at Cassie's expression. Superboy, to his credit, just shook his head, but he was smiling all the same.

The two crept across the rooftop and popped open a skylight. This time, Conner let Cassie grab him. She flew the two across the ceiling of the warehouse, putting them both down on a forgotten catwalk.

Inside, the warehouse looked a lot different. Stacks upon stacks of unidentified crates were lined up across one side of the warehouse, with cartons of LexCorp Quench stacked next to them. Squinting, Cassie could faintly make out a purple colour to the Quench bottles. But, as far as she knew, Quench only came in Orange, Strawberry-Banana, and Peach.

The rest of the warehouse held other crates and suitably complex looking machinery. The clanking of the machines masked the sounds of the guards patrolling. One end of the assembly line seemed to take in empty bottles. There were two large vats connected to the processor – one was filled with what Cassie assumed was Quench, but the other was smaller.

"Can you make out the colour on that smaller vat?" asked Cassie, pitching her voice low in the vast area. Conner nodded and squinted at the vat.

"Looks… red," said Conner after a moment.

"Like Venom?" asked Cassie.

Conner shook his head. "No idea. We'd have to get closer – get a sample."

Body weightless, Cassie lifted off the catwalk and gave Conner a thumbs-up. "I can get us one. Stay here."

"Watch the guards," hissed Conner as she drifted down below him. Cassie rolled over, gave him a quick salute, then swung herself back toward the ground and dove.

She pulled up just a few feet from the concrete floors, dangling behind several of the unidentified crates. This close, Cassie spotted an open crate in the dull lighting of the warehouse. She drifted toward it, plucked a vial from the crate, and floated back up to Conner, silent as ever.

Dropping back onto the catwalk, she tossed the vial between her hands and grinned at him.

"See?" she said. "Easy." The vial slipped between her fingers on the next toss and dropped off the catwalk. The two watched in horror as it smashed on the concrete floor – the sound impossibly loud despite the noise of the machinery.

Immediately, the guards were swinging toward the area below Cassie and Conner. As they grew closer, Cassie managed to get a good look at the features on some of them and couldn't quite hide her gasp.

One guard had the muzzle of a coyote and the ears of a bunny rabbit. Another had eyes that belonged on a bird of prey with feathers streaking his spotted skin. Yet another lumbered toward them, obviously moving on the legs of a big cat – and by the black fur that covered his face, Cassie guessed he was a puma.

"What are they?" asked Cassie.

Conner shook his head. "No idea. But they know we're here, and we need another sample."

"Sorry," said Cassie, wincing.

With a shrug, Conner said. "No big deal." He cracked his knuckles. "Besides, it's been too long since I got to punch something. This'll be fun."

Cassie perked, a grin spreading on her face as an idea ignited inside her. "What about a contest?"

Raising an eyebrow, Conner stared at her, incredulous. "A contest?"

"Whoever takes down the most bad guys gets the other to buy them food after this," said Cassie, holding out her hand.

Conner nodded, expression thoughtful. Then he reached out, caught her hand in his and said, "Deal." With that, the two dove off the catwalk and into a new battle.

Conner was the first to hit the ground. Immediately he was up again, slamming a fist into the coyote muzzle guard. He ducked, threw out a leg as he spun, and put another on its back. Another grabbed at his neck. A lasso dropped over their shoulders. The guard was gone, spinning in a lasso and taking out a dozen others.

Cassie whooped, dropped the lasso loop around the guard, and charged.

She plowed into two guards. Grabbed one by the shoulders and flipped over him. Tossed him into his partner. Another guard – maskless and female – grabbed her lasso. Cassie dropped it, stepped into the guard's space. Slammed a fist in her ribs and sent her flying.

More guards now with time to pull their guns. A shout for the others to get out of the way. Some did, some didn't. The rat-a-tat and booms of guns going off in all directions.

Cassie spun, bracelets up. Bullet after bullet but she was too fast. She deflected over and over, tossing bullets back at them when she could. One took a ricochet to the shoulder and screamed. Went down hard and fell off the catwalk into the crates. They shattered. Red pooled beneath the crates and Cassie didn't know if it was blood or the stuff inside. _Was it Venom?_ They needed to find out.

Conner shouted a warning a split-second too late. A guard plowed into Cassie. Sent them both flying into the cartons of purple Quench.

Cassie slammed a fist into the guard's mouth. Saw the muzzle – was it a muzzle? – split down the centre and bleed. She yelped, shoved him off her. Took off flying despite the guns. She aimed for the catwalk where the guards were. Sped passed them and tossed her lasso out. Caught the catwalk around the centre. She yanked hard as she shot out under the catwalk. It crumbled and fell to the ground.

"Heads up!" she shouted to Conner. He dove out of the way, taking two more guards with him.

The machines screamed to a stop as the guards screamed on the way down.

Then, there was only groaning. Cassie pulled back her lasso and floated down to Conner, looking around.

"Was that all of them?" asked Cassie.

"Think so," said Conner. He hopped up onto a cinder block and yanked the top off an undisturbed crate. Then he pulled out a vial and studied it closely.

"Is it Venom?" asked Cassie.

"Not sure," said Conner. "Colour's a little off, and it smells different."

Cassie scanned the warehouse, making sure they hadn't missed anyone. By the looks of things, Conner had taken down plenty of guards while she was attacking the catwalk. "Well, Aqualad did say that Blue Beetle found animal DNA in the Venom in El Paso," she said. "Maybe that's it."

Conner nodded. "Judging by the look of these guys," he gestured to the guards around them, "I'd say it's a good bet." He tucked the sample into his belt and headed for the cartons near the end of the assembly line.

"Hey did you see what the purple Quench flavour is?" Cassie called, digging into a carton on her side of the warehouse.

"No, why?" Conner called back.

She picked up a half-broken bottle, careful of the drink more than the shards, and turned to Conner, who had found some unbroken ones. "Feral Purple," she said. "Seems a little…"

"Weird," finished Conner.

"Yup," said Cassie. She bounced on her heels. "Should we head back to the Watchtower?" she asked.

Conner walked back to Cassie and clapped her on the shoulder. "First, let's head to this diner I know," he said. "I think I owe you a meal."

Cassie pumped a fist into the air. "Right on! Let's go!" Conner chuckled as the two headed out of the warehouse.

* * *

 _Gotham City. August 12_ _th_ _, 23:16 EDT_

The two thugs sprinted down a wet alley, the grey rain pelting their faces every time they looked over their shoulders. Above them, a shadow. A flash of a flared cape that bloated out the streetlights for a second. Then it was gone again. One of the thugs stumbled, his knee slamming into the garbage cans in the alley. The clang rang through the misty air. He threw them aside and kept running.

In front of them was a brick wall. Batman dropped down in front of it. In the rainy night, his mask's lens seemed to glow yellow.

"Where is he?" growled the bat.

The two thugs scrambled backward, falling over each other in their attempt to get away from Batman. One looked over his shoulder, toward the mouth of the alley. A batarang slammed into the brick wall, two inches from his face.

He kept his gaze forward after that.

"Where is he?" repeated Batman.

"We don't know, man," said one of the thugs. Desperation made his voice high and reedy. "Hood comes to us, we don't go to him." He swallowed hard, knees shaking as he tried to stay upright. "Please, man."

The Batman growled, a low sound that echoed like thunder. Moments later, lightning flashed across the sky. The boom of thunder that followed left the thugs' ears ringing.

"Don't lie to me," said Batman. His voice had lost its snarl, morphing into a monotone that was arguably worse. The two thugs looked at each other, each one begging the other to say _something_ to stop Batman from leaving them here broken and bloody in the rain.

"We don't know!" said the thug who had spoken before. "I swear."

Batman loomed nearer, his body melding perfectly with the shadows all around him. "I don't believe you." A batarang dropped into his open palm. His wrist twitched, ready to let fly.

"Wait!" said the second thug. He scrambled in front of his friend. "There's an old apartment on 33rd street. It's on the second floor, one of the windows blacked out. A guy I know said he saw 'im there once." He licked dry lips with a drier tongue. "That's all I know."

Batman didn't say a word. He looked between the two shaking thugs. A moment later, he shot a grapple line at a nearby roof, and was gone. The thugs slumped in the puddles, still shaking.

Batman swung in a wide arc onto a nearby roof and made his way to 33rd street. There were only a few decrepit old buildings on the street, and he knew only one that matched the thug's description.

Several blocks down, Batman swung left, leaped between a pair of rooftops, and wiped the rain from his face. The building he stood on was one of the three old buildings on 33rd street, and the only one with blacked out windows.

Batman grappled down the side of the building to a window on the second floor. Stepping onto the fire escape, he forced the window open and climbed in.

The apartment inside was dirty and unkempt. Broken bottles and old clothes were strewn about and the smell of human and animal waste lingered despite his mask's filters. A quick scan with his thermal settings revealed no heat signatures. He was alone.

Batman stepped around the broken bottles and filth carefully. His gaze remained on a smear on the far wall. The light switch didn't work when he tried, so he switched to night vision on his lens. A moment later, the smear on the wall came into proper view.

It was a helmet with a pair of eye slits, no doubt red in the day time. Batman let his fingers hover just above the symbol. Stared at it like it could give him all the answers in the world. When the symbol remained the same, with no secret messages in any of his lens' modes, he cursed and slammed fist into the wall.

"Damn it!"

A soft sigh pulled itself from Batman's throat. He closed his eyes for a moment, only to force them back open to stare at the symbol again.

"Clark's right," said Batman. "I am chasing after ghosts."

* * *

 _Metropolis. August 13_ _th_ _, 10:05 EDT_

A perky tour coordinator stood at the front of a group of tourists. They were a diverse group – all different shapes, sizes, and ages. An ear piece hung over her left ear, a small portion sticking forward to act as a microphone.

"Attention everyone," she said in a loud, cheerful voice. Her rosy cheeks were plump from her perpetual smile. "Please gather around, the tour is about to begin."

In the background, Karen and Jaime edged in with the crowd. Both of them wore hoodies to combat the industrial strength air conditioners. In the lobby, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows and flanked by a reception area, Jaime couldn't help but notice that everything was a bit too fancy for a basic distribution company. Luthor was claiming to be helping the little people, so why did these guys look like him?

"You think Luthor redid this lobby?" asked Jaime, glancing at Karen.

"I don't know. Wouldn't put it passed him, Luthor does seem big on his image," she replied. Jaime nodded.

 _Jaime Reyes, there are trance samples of a dopamine additive on this tour coordinator's breath_ , said the Scarab.

"Meaning?" asked Jaime. Karen raised an eyebrow at him and Jaime jerked a thumb at his back.

 _She has been consuming the beverage produced by the Reach_ , said the Scarab. The tour started then and Karen caught Jaime's shoulder, tugging him forward. The two moved with the crowd. The coordinator's voice was half drowned out by the murmuring of other people all around them.

"Now, as you can see, we here at Terracotta Shipping do our utmost to make everyone who works for and visits the company is comfortable," the coordinator was saying.

Jaime leaned over and said to Karen, "Scarab says she's been drinking Reach soda."

Karen raised an eyebrow. "Guess Luthor really is using the same recipe then," she said. She frowned. "But why not change it, make it more effective? There's something else going on here."

"Definitely," said Jaime. "When can we slip away to find out?"

Karen glanced at her watch and said, "We should pass R&D in about ten minutes. Blend in until then, then we'll break." Jaime nodded and turned his attention back to the coordinator, trying to listen for clues about what Luthor was up to.

"Mr. Luthor has done this company a great service, choosing us to ship his Quench soda around the world," the coordinator said. "And we're doing him proud, let me tell you. Quench is already available in 25 states and will be available across the continent before the month is over. Not only that, but Mr. Luthor has promised to choose us for all his future endeavours in the food industry."

"Future endeavours?" whispered Jaime.

 _Unknown variable,_ said the Scarab. _Lex Luthor has not made public other endeavours._ Jaime nodded.

As they rounded the corner, moving from lobby to hallway, Jaime noticed that the floor to ceiling windows quickly vanished. Smaller ones speckled the hallway here and there, but mostly it was skylights that let in the morning light. Otherwise, the hallways were marked by doors, some large and some small, each leading to different parts of the shipping plant.

Within a few minutes, the group reached the shipping floor. They walked along the balconies and railed catwalks. The coordinator at the front speaking loudly over the machines.

"As you can see, this is where Terracotta Shipping receives the Quench cartons and packages them for shipping to stores across the country," she said. Down below, cartons upon cartons of Quench were lined up in neat stacks. Forklifts moved cartons to and from the machines, which picked up the Quench drinks and divided them into six to twelve packs. Some were boxed as individuals. At the end of the assembly line, another forklift picked up the cartons and drove them to the trucks, where various workers loaded them up for shipping.

"Some of these cartons will be loaded into freight trains, where they will be delivered as far away as Portland, Oregon!" said the coordinator. "It's a big operation folks, but we here at Terracotta Shipping are up for the job." She clapped her hands together, whacking the clipboard as she did. "Now, let's take a look at our Research and Development portion, shall we?"

Another travel down a bunch of hallways. Then the group was led into a science laboratory where research was being conducted on both Quench and on shipping crates.

"Here in Research and Development, we're always looking into new ways to ship our goods across the world," said the coordinator. "And Mr. Luthor has been kind enough to bring over some of his scientists and renovate our lab so that they can research new flavours of Quench on site, giving Terracotta Shipping an exclusive look at new flavours." In a crate on the black counter tops, Jaime spotted two new flavours of Quench. One was blue and one was purple.

Karen tugged on his shoulder. It was time to go.

While the group was distracted by free samples of Cool Blue Raspberry flavour Quench, Karen and Jaime slipped through a pair of swinging doors and headed for the computer lab.

Inside, Jaime asked the Scarab to loop the cameras and, once he had confirmed, nodded to Karen. The two crept through the lab, careful not to be spotted by several workers, and ducked into the server room. There, Karen pulled a tiny computer out of her hoodie pocket and plugged a cord into the main server tower.

"This should allow us to see anything we want," said Karen. "Assuming I can get passed all the locks." Jaime nodded and stayed near the door, watching for others that might distract them.

 _Analysis complete on the composition of Feral Purple_ , said Scarab.

"What's Feral Purple?" asked Jaime. Karen ignored him and continued working. She and the others were growing more used to Jaime talking to the Scarab, despite not being able to hear him themselves.

 _The secondary flavour of Quench seen in the Research and Development laboratory,_ said Scarab.

"Alright, hermano, what did you find?" asked Jaime. He peaked through the crack in the door and spotted a couple workers at the computers. None of them seemed to notice the two in the server room.

"Hey, Blue," said Karen. "I think I found something." Jaime leaned over her shoulder just as Scarab spoke again.

 _It contains an unknown additive similar in nature to that of the Venom found in El Paso_ , said Scarab. Sure enough, Karen's computer was telling her something similar. Extra additives for both the Cool Blue Raspberry and the Feral Purple flavours.

"What do they do?" asked Jaime.

"No idea," said Karen. "But if they're related to Venom, then that means this whole mess stinks of the Light." She blew at her bangs. "And here I thought they were done for."

Jaime chuckled and leaned away from Karen to scout again. Around them, dozens of tall, black server towers hummed as they worked. Their blinking lights made a quiet rhythm that Jaime only ever noticed out of the corner of his eye.

"If there's one thing I've learned about the Light, ese, it's that they never stay down long," said Jaime. "Even with half of them gone."

Karen snorted. "Like a cockroach. Just have to find a way to crush them once and for all."

"Sí," said Jaime. One of the workers looked up from his work and stood.

 _Approaching enemy_ , said Scarab. _Neutralize recommended._

"This is a stealth mission," hissed Jaime. Then, to Karen, "We have to go." Karen nodded and unhooked her computer. The two crept behind another stack of towers and headed for a small hatch at the back of the room. Jaime popped it open and Karen shrank down to her Bumblebee size. Jaime caught the clothes and computer, bundled them up, and crawled into the hatch after her.

She flew ahead, guiding them out, and before long, Jaime was dropping into the lobby behind a pair of potted plants.

Once Karen was back to regular size and dressed, she took her computer and showed it to Jaime.

"There's one more thing," she said. "Look at these readings, they aren't for Quench, they're for water."

Jaime frowned. "Why would Lex Luthor want anything to do with water?" he asked. Karen tucked her computer back into her hoodie. She gestured for Jaime to follow as they walked through the lobby.

"If you control the water, you control the people," said Karen. "Do you have any idea how many people drink bottled water only?" She folded her arms, looking at the fountain as they went through the doors and out into the open world again.

"If Luthor takes over the bottled water industry," started Jaime.

"Then we're all in big trouble," finished Karen. "We need to tell Aqualad." Jaime nodded. The two headed for the nearest Zeta-Beam.


	3. Propagation Delay

**Author's Note:** Again, thank you to everyone who left feedback. I cannot express properly how much it means to me. And I encourage everyone to please leave a review if you enjoy the story, as it encourages me to keep writing. The more I write, the more I can ensure I stick to my updates, and the more likely it is that I will post extra updates down the line.

For chapter three, I've got two things I want to say. For one, this has been my favourite chapter so far. Everything, from the title to the theme to the time stamps, has all fit together absolutely perfectly (it's also the longest chapter yet, at just under 5,300 words!). And two, this is when we start to introduce comic book characters! Can you find them all? Here's a hint: there are three in this chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter Three: Propagation Delay**

 _Vancouver. August 13_ _th_ _, 13:13 PDT_

Kid Flash and Tigress stepped out of the lone Zeta-Beam in southern British Columbia and into the rain. Between the thick, hot rain and the dark, thundering clouds, neither one of them could see more than thirty feet from their current location.

"Ugh, this is not my day," grumbled Tigress, yanking her already soaked hair into a ponytail. Kid Flash nodded in agreement.

"So, not crash," he said.

"Let's just find Klarion and get this over with," said Tigress. The touch of anger in her voice made Kid Flash glance sideways at her, but he said nothing as they walked away.

The two made their way through parts of the Greater Vancouver Area, disappearing into side streets and checking the three main locations Klarion had been sighted at – the beach of Stanley Park, the University of BC library, and the RBC on Main Street.

The RBC was useless, though both had expected as much. The security footage for the time of the sighting was completely warped and played only a high pitched screeching noise when they tried to watch the time frame.

As the two left, Tigress cursed under her breath before dropping into a puddle. She snarled, leaping out of it.

"You okay?" asked Kid Flash.

"No!" said Tigress. "I'm hot and wet and sticky. My uniform is soaked, my hair is a mess. Besides, if Klarion really is in Vancouver then we're screwed because the last time we went full out against this guy, we had to use the Dr. Fate helmet." Her voice grew louder and more frustrated with each word. At the final word it broke into a shout as she shucked the water off her uniform

Kid Flash blinked and chewed on his cheek. "I didn't know," he said.

"That's…" Tigress sighed and adjusted her mask. "That's when we lost Zatara."

Kid Flash was silent.

The two moved toward the library, ducking under awnings to keep themselves as dry as they could manage. It was a losing battle. The thick rain coated them every second they dared to move uncovered. Even at full speed, Kid Flash couldn't avoid such a solid falling sheet of rain. The thunder rumbled above him. It wouldn't be fair to try, not when he'd leave Tigress behind.

Before long, the two were approaching the library. It was a large building made up mostly of glass. At its centre, on the roof, was an arc in the glass, creating a sort of dome over the inner dip of the building. The rain streaked the windows and left them grey and menacing, despite it being the middle of the day.

"So where was he spotted here?" asked Kid Flash as they crossed the stone tiles toward the library. He looked at the benches spread out over the entranceway. On a sunny day, he imagined they'd be filled with students from all sorts of programs. Studying, interacting, just being regular people.

He frowned a bit at the thought. University must have been cool. Different people all the time, subjects you actually wanted to take. The freedom to walk away from the class when things go to be too much.

Kid Flash shook his head and turned his attention back toward Tigress, who was staring at the library with a look that Kid Flash could only describe as lost.

"Yo, Tigress," he said, raising his voice over the thunder. "You okay?"

She jerked; her entire body coming around and her eyes going wide. "Fine." Spoken too fast and too high. Kid Flash let it slide. Neither one of them was on their A-Game today.

"So…," said Kid Flash. "Klarion?"

Tigress straightened. In an instant, she'd shifted from harshly closed off body language to perfectly neutral. It made Kid Flash's head hurt to see her snap into military position without thinking about it. "He was spotted here once," she said. "About four days ago." She scowled. "No other intel."

"So… question the locals?" asked Kid Flash. He wiped his wet hair out of his face and squinted. He had his own goggles on, but they were smearing.

"No," said Tigress. "We should look for clues. Scan the area – quickly."

Kid Flash saluted her. "Quickly is my middle name. Well, actually it's Henry, but Quickly is cooler. Oh, maybe I could be an honorary member of the Quick family. Hang out with Jesse."

"Bart!" snapped Tigress.

Kid Flash flinched. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Tigress grimaced. Scrubbed at her mask. Sighed. "No, I mean…" She trailed off.

"I know. I miss him too," said Kid Flash quietly.

Another sigh. "Just scan the area," said Tigress.

Kid Flash zipped around the library's courtyard, side yard, and back area. He darted through the library so quickly that no one even noticed the twitch of the stacks of paper. Then he was dashing back to Tigress and skidding to a stop on the soaked cobblestones.

"Nothing, nadda, zip, ziltch," said Kid Flash. He sighed. "All these dead ends has me feeling the mode."

Tigress nodded. "This isn't Klarion's usual hang out, so I wasn't expecting much." She gestured to the road. "We've still got one location left – the beach."

"Righto, let's go!"

The two headed to Stanley Park, which was mostly abandoned in the weather, and then further, into Second Beach. It was a long beach, flanked by a forest of coniferous trees, with long logs splayed on their sides for seating areas. In the heavy rain and wind, the beach was a howling, soaking mess, and the waves were capping out at ten feet before they curled over and slammed into the sand.

"I think I'm getting a cold," muttered Tigress. "Let's do this quickly."

Before Kid Flash could respond, a cackle sounded from the surf. Crackling red and black energy rose from the waves and folded over into itself. It formed into a black clad young man and a tiger.

"Hello justice babies," he said, grinning with teeth too sharp to be human.

"Klarion," said Kid Flash. He shifted into position to run, only for Tigress to grab his shoulder.

"Careful, he's a witch, Kid, he's got tricks you haven't seen," she said.

Kid Flash grinned and said, "Hey, I've got a few tricks of my own." He took off across the slick sand and onto the uneven surface of the water. He leaped at the last second, grabbing at Klarion. In an instant, Klarion had disappeared. Kid Flash fell, twisted over, and hit the ground at super speed. He tore across the water and stumbled into the sand. Fell face first.

Tigress growled. "Klarion, where are you?" She unsheathed her sword. Turned around slowly with her teeth barred.

"Oh Artemis," purred the witch boy. He appeared on her right and stroked her cheek. "You need better toys."

The sword in her hands snapped into a snake. Tigress yelped and dropped it, jumping back from the slithering black creature.

"Where are you?" said Tigress. She yanked the daggers out at her sides.

Klarion appeared in front of her. Then to her right. Then to her left. Kid Flash got to his feet and zipped to her side. A dozen Klarions surrounded them.

"Which one is real, justice babies?" they asked, cackling. Tigress screamed and launched herself at one of the Klarions. Kid Flash dashed at them, slamming himself into several at once. They vanished, only for more to appear.

The two attacked left and right. They flanked high and low. They swung and beat and smashed with everything they had. Each time more Klarions would appear, still cackling. Tigress was screaming in time with her strikes. The thunder rumbled overhead. Lightning lit up the beach and turned the Klarions' eyes a glowing red.

Or did they already do that? Kid Flash couldn't remember anymore. He skid on the sand and slammed into another Klarion. Spun, fists up, and the one in front of him vanished. Tigress stood in its place, panting hard and slick with sweat and rain and tears. Kid Flash pretended not to notice the last one.

They turned, but there were none left to fight. The beach was empty but for the two heroes and their harsh, panting breaths.

"Where's the cat?" asked Tigress between shaking breaths.

Kid Flash zipped around, slow enough not to slide of the sand, and frowned. "Can't find it anywhere," he said as he got back.

Tigress cursed and tossed one of her daggers into the sand. "Damn it!" She dropped into the sand next to it.

The rain was lightening. It trickled now from the sky, splattering onto Kid Flash and Tigress like the tears of an old friend. But the darkness remained, hanging over them with the shadow of death and mourning lingering in the air and in the clouds.

"He brought me here for our three year anniversary," said Tigress, long after the silence had grown uncomfortable. "I thought I could handle it."

Sitting down next to her, Kid Flash pressed a hand to her shoulder. "It's okay that you can't."

A bitter laugh slipped past Tigress' throat. "You seem to be handling this well."

Kid Flash matched her laugh with a smile. "I'm used to hiding it."

"Ah, fuck," said Tigress, scrubbing a hand over the lower half of her face. "We're a mess."

"Yeah, we are," said Kid Flash.

A moment later, their comms went off, saving the two from having to keep up with the awkward conversation.

"Kid Flash, Tigress," said Aqualad over the comms. "There has been a breakout at Belle Reve Penitentiary."

Tigress was on her feet in an instant. Kid Flash followed.

"What?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"Any escapes?" asked Kid Flash.

"None confirmed," said Aqualad. "But Klarion was seen on scene less than five minutes ago. He caused the explosion and vanished. We have to wait for a head count to know who he took with him."

"Damn it!" shouted Tigress, throwing her other dagger into the sand. "Just fucking great! All that was a distraction? We were used as bait." She screamed wordlessly and stalked off across the sand.

Kid Flash grimaced "She's… had a rough day," he said to Aqualad.

"Indeed," said Aqualad. "Report back to the Watchtower when you can." He paused again. Then, "And Bart?"

"Yeah?"

"Keep an eye on her. Artemis tends to lash out when she is upset, I don't want her to hurt herself or anyone else."

Kid Flash managed a smile that was half-bitter and half-pained. He'd figured that part out already. "Will do, chief, Kid Flash out." He headed across the sand to pick up the daggers and find Tigress. Maybe they could find something to punch on the way home.

* * *

 _Mars. August 14_ _th_ _, 17:00 UTC_

The caverns of Mars had been M'gann's home for many years, but returning to them had only reminded her of why she'd stolen away in the first place. On Mars, keeping her green colouring gained the trust of many, despite her very humanoid appearance. But her mind – locked down and shut off from everyone else – had raised suspicion many times.

It was one of the many reasons why M'gann was happy that her stint as diplomatic advisor for Earth was almost over.

B'arzz and M'gann drifted down the caverns together, discussing the meeting of the Mars Unity that had just ended.

" _I believe you made many good points in that meeting, M'gann,"_ said B'arzz in the sharp vowels of Martian. M'gann felt the wash of honey that always accompanied B'arzz's telepathic voice hit her tongue. Even after two weeks on Mars without rest, she still wasn't used to the flavours, colours, and smells that each Martian's telepathic voice invoked. Funny, how she'd not understood why her Earth friends had no such connotations, once upon a time. Now the feeling was overwhelming in group discussion with other Martians.

" _I hope so, B'arzz,"_ said M'gann. The sour of her own mind brushing against B'arzz's. _"I don't think I can handle much more of this."_ The heavy words were accompanied by heavier diction. She was no longer used to speaking Martian.

" _You have been an incredible assistance during these difficult times,"_ said B'arzz.

M'gann sighed, this time audibly, and fiddled with her hands. _"I feel like I'm slowing things down, to be honest."_

" _Nonsense, your knowledge of Earth and of Ferris Airways has made discussion of the new Mars-Earth Communication Satellite much smoother,"_ said B'arzz.

M'gann giggled, letting the sound roll both over her tongue and over her mind. A flash of a smile in her mind's eye brought forth smells of vanilla and the sound of Zatanna speaking holiday spells. She shook her head. Memories were a normal way of communicating here. She locked down her mind again, more tightly this time.

" _Your reluctance to share your experiences, your mind, has led to much mistrust and confusion,"_ said B'arzz. _"You fear that this slows the process."_

" _I fear I am not longer a part of the world I grew up in,"_ confessed M'gann.

B'arzz's own smile, a touch bitter, shifted in the corner of her mind. _"You were never truly part of this side of Martian culture,"_ he said. M'gann remembered her childhood. Remembered the slurs and the sneers, the cut off whispers in other parent's minds. And the fear, oh she remembered the fear.

" _No,"_ agreed M'gann. _"I wasn't."_

The two drifted on in companionable silence, the edges of their minds brushing one another, but mostly closed off. M'gann wished she could express her gratitude toward B'arzz for his kindness. There were too many open minds and too many memories drifting passed her on Mars to risk a closer connection. Her touch read more like a distant acquaintance than that of a close friend. It was rude. It was formal.

It was necessary.

He understood. He had since the moment she'd gotten here, back in July.

A sigh drifted across their minds, more from her than him, and B'arzz glanced in her direction.

" _You are homesick."_ It wasn't a question.

" _I miss my friends. I miss my brother,"_ said M'gann.

" _The green one? He is not a Martian,"_ said B'arzz.

M'gann let her smile stretch into his headspace. _"Family isn't always genetic. Besides, I gave him his powers. Emulated his mother. We're family."_

B'arzz chuckled, the sound was warm and chocolate. Sunny days on Earth and flying high on Mars at night. _"This is fair."_ His own memories of family flashed in the background of his words, distant and warm. _"You will be home soon."_

" _I hope so,"_ said M'gann. Her frown drifted through her words, cutting the hopeful tone. _"No one here trusts me."_

B'arzz brushed at her frown with quiet reassurance, the flicker-flutter of his darting telepathic fingers more comfort than intrusion. _"You keep a humanoid form, despite your green appearance. Your words ring hollow without connotation of memory or taste,"_ he said.

" _It's necessary, to keep my status,"_ said M'gann.

" _I know,"_ said B'arzz. _"But it fuels the mistrust of the people."_ M'gann snorted – the sound more Conner than her as it bounced between the two Martian's heads. Floating passed her and B'arzz were two green Martians, they caught the tail end of M'gann's snort. Their gazes whipped toward her. She felt the flicker-flash of disdain and confusion that quickly turned to disgust.

They drifted passed. M'gann clamped down hard on her anger as they did. A tiny part of her knew, deep down, that she could have them against a wall and without their powers in mere moments. The anger seeped, coating itself in Conner's rage and Artemis' screams.

The disgust changed to fear at the back of M'gann's awareness. The two Martians took off.

Her memories were childhood playthings. Average Earth days with human beings. It was not only her heritage that kept her memories sealed away, but the disbelief and disdain that tainted every mind that saw her memories in her words.

" _I as well?"_ asked B'arzz.

M'gann started, her mind flashing a split second of sour-apple fear. _"No!"_ said M'gann. _"Sorry, I didn't realize…"_ Her words faded. He was in her mind. He caught the end of the idea.

Another Martian approached, this one dressed as the serving class. M'gann let a honey-warm smile brush the new Martian's mind as he approached them. Felt the confusion and shadows that quickly faded to flight in the open caverns.

" _Pardon, Ambassador M'orzz,"_ he said. His words fluttered about her mind – butterflies in a meadow or smoke tracks in the tunnels. The two collided and vanished. _"The justice department has requested your presence and that of B'arzz O'oomm."_

" _Is something wrong?"_ asked B'arzz.

" _There has been a breakout,"_ said the Martian. A flash of the justice officers ordering him to find the ambassador. A curse when they realized who had escaped.

" _Take us there,"_ said M'gann. Her commanding voice held no memories.

The justice department of the northern hemisphere of Mars was located within a pockmarking of caverns up the side of an underground gulch. The red stone bled to brown which bled to grey in the area and the buildings for the department stabbed themselves into open air from their pockets in the walls.

M'gann and B'arzz followed the Martian, who had provided his name only as the faint lip-licking flavour of candy in the southern hemisphere, up to one of the highest buildings. Its grey and red streaked structure was brushed by falling dust, but the words of the justice department remained true.

Inside, green Martian justice officers lingered in both the air and on the ground, the rumbling of their tension matched with the rumbling of surface storms and, in one case, a cave in from many years ago. M'gann kept the stream flowing one way, accepting but not giving, and spoke.

" _We were told you had requested our presence,"_ she said. There was no connotation to her words. They flashed into the others' minds with no more than the bitter of her Martian voice.

" _Yes,"_ said one of the officers. Her reedy echo was rock dust and moonlight. _"There has been a breakout and the higher officers requested that you and Assistant O'oomm were briefed."_

" _Who escaped?"_ asked B'arzz. Flashes of violent scuffles and cackles from the female officer. Escaped was the wrong word.

" _Ma'alefa'ak J'onzz,"_ said the officer.

M'gann sucked in an audible breath. A brief moment of her uncle, shouting at her to run. A flash of him in the dirt, his wife and daughter broken beneath him. She shook it off. Heat rose to her cheeks and the flush of embarrassment was clamped down before it could escape her mind.

The officers were staring.

" _My uncle,"_ she said. _"Both of them."_

" _Indeed,"_ said the officer. _"Which is why you were requested."_ Her high Martian was somewhat halting on the word, and a glimpse of the officer, speaking low Martian, appeared as an apology.

" _Twenty-five years ago, Ma'alefa'ak J'onzz attempted to destroy the Martian Collective through a telepathic virus that would…"_ She trailed off. Images of burning Martians. The sound of screaming. A thick taste on M'gann's tongue of charred flesh and smoke. She grimaced, let the memories be sliced by it.

" _Your uncle apprehended him after several years at large. We had hoped that was the last of the damage Ma'alefa'ak could cause,"_ said the officer.

" _How did he escape?"_ asked B'arzz. _"Were his abilities not removed?"_

The officer sighed. A drawn out brush of the minds that bled into howling winds in the gulch after long nights at work. _"Martian physiology allows for abilities to be shared, given, and gained through… bodily fluids, whether that be blood or other_ things _."_ A flash of intimacy that made M'gann's mind turn to embarrassed flush. Not her own intimacy, thankfully, but a flicker from the officer. To her credit, she seemed equally flustered by her slip-up.

" _He killed three guards last night and drank their blood. It appeared to restore many of his Martian abilities,"_ said the officer. _"We learned of this only hours ago, when the psychic image Ma'alefa'ak left in his cell faded."_

M'gann bit her lip, let the flicker-flash of pain bleed into her mind and her connection. _"An afterimage that strong means he is more powerful than most Martians,"_ she said, slowly.

" _Indeed, we must be careful, if we come across him,"_ said B'arzz.

" _Our orders are to apprehend Ma'alefa'ak and ensure he cannot escape the hemisphere,"_ said the officer. _"We have also been told that you are not to leave Mars until he is apprehended."_

M'gann bit back her annoyance, let it bleed into concern and ambition instead. _"Of course. And we will do everything in our power to help you."_

Gratitude flooded the psychic connection between M'gann, B'arzz, and the officers. M'gann let a smile drift into their headspaces, hiding her own frustration and fear. Ma'alefa'ak was dangerous. He had killed her Uncle J'onzz's family and eluded capture for years.

How long would he last this time? How long would she be trapped on Mars?

* * *

 _STAR Labs, Metropolis. August 14_ _th_ _, 17:00 EDT_

Flash and Green Arrow waited together in the new STAR Labs facility in Metropolis, their gazes occasionally flicking to one another as they waited for Doctor Silas Stone to finish his last check-over of the sample they'd brought him.

Sighing, the older doctor stepped away from his computers and lifted his glasses to rub his eyes. He turned to the two heroes, blinking.

"It's as you suspected," said Dr. Stone. "This Venom has had animal DNA specifically added to its sequence, changing the composition completely."

The Flash nodded and said, "With what our operatives saw in that warehouse, it doesn't surprise me."

"Yes, those hybrid creatures are a product of this splice of animal DNA and Venom. Within this sample," he said, gesturing to the computers, "I found two separate DNA sequences – one for a black panther and one for a red-tailed hawk."

"That's quite the combination," said Green Arrow.

Before any other responses could be made, the door to the lab opened. An African-American teenager with a great deal of resemblance to Dr. Stone ran into the room.

"Dad," he said, grinning. "Are you coming to my game? It starts in half an hour."

Dr. Stone sighed. "Not now, Victor. Can't you see I'm busy with the Justice League?"

Victor visibly deflated. "But you said…"

"In two years, your games won't matter," said Dr. Stone. "But my research could help the Justice League with a massive case. Why don't you go to your game with your _team_?"

"Yes, Dad," mumbled Victor. He slumped out of the room, his head hanging and his arms limp at his sides.

Flash and Green Arrow glanced at one another.

"He seems like a good kid," said Flash carefully.

Dr. Stone scoffed and turned his attention to his computers. He scowled at them as he spoke. "All of his mother's ambition, but none of my intelligence. All the kid cares about is sports and cars." He shook his head. "Won't go very far with that in life."

"So," Green Arrow cut in, smiling tightly. "What are the long term implications of this… Splice, or can you tell?"

Dr. Stone picked up his tablet and flicked through a few of the images. His work shoes click-clacked against the white tiles of the lab as he walked over to the heroes. Then, turning the tablet toward them, he pulled the images up side by side.

"The animal DNA affects the body over time," said Dr. Stone. He pointed to the first image of a DNA sequence. "Long term exposure creates the hybrid creatures that your operatives found. However, the effects could be accelerated and enhanced with large enough doses of higher concentrations of Venom." Dr. Stone tapped the image of the Venom, showing a small clip of the Venom overtaking the cells in an organism. "Or, long term exposure to low doses would create compliance."

"Compliance to who?" asked Green Arrow.

"Whom," corrected Dr. Stone. "And I don't know. I would presume Bane, but we scientists aren't in the habit of presuming." His gaze flickered to the two. "Not that I _presume_ you two would know that."

"Well, thank you for your time, Dr. Stone," said Flash, his smile tight on his face. "We should report this back to the League."

Dr. Stone was already walking away. He waved them off. "Of course, of course. Call when I can be of more assistance."

The two heroes left STAR Labs in a hurry and once they were outside, Green Arrow let loose a loud groan and scrubbed his gloved hands on his face.

"Man, I hate that guy," said Green Arrow.

"He's the world's leading biologist and geneticist, Oliver, _and_ he's willing to work with the League," said the Flash as the two walked away from the building.

Green Arrow kicked at a couple rocks, scowling. "That doesn't make me think he's less of an asshole."

"He is pretty presumptuous," conceded the Flash.

"And not just that." Green Arrow spun to face Flash. "But he's a damn horrible father by the looks of things." Oliver's face contorted into a scowl. "Did you hear the way he talked about his own son? To him and to _us?_ " Oliver's voice lifted with each word.

Barry looked around to ensure no one could hear them. "I know," he said, gesturing for Oliver to lower his voice. "Look, I'll have porn mags sent to his work email or something."

Oliver blinked. "Seriously?" he asked. His feet skipped over a crack in the sidewalk.

"Yeah, said Barry, brushing aside a low hanging branch on the tree lined street. "He's a League operative, they aren't going to fire him." He shrugged. "And it'd make us feel better."

Oliver leaped forward and grabbed Flash in a tight hug. That drew some looks from people down the street. Barry waved.

"You're the _best_ ," said Oliver, grinning.

"Yeah, yeah, now put me down, people are staring," said Flash. But he was grinning too.

* * *

 _Gotham. August 14_ _th_ _, 20:36 EDT_

Cassie drifted just above the rooftops in one of the middle class areas of Gotham. The high rise apartment buildings were two blocks down, and the older, lower ones sat here. Even ten feet above the rooftop she could still hear the sounds drifting out the open windows and into the summer night.

Parents and kids chatting to one another, the shriek of a game of tag, the stapled-on canned laughter from a sitcom.

Coupled with the brilliant sunset – blues flooding purples flooding oranges and yellows – Cassie could honestly say it was a perfect end to a day.

"Hey, Cassie." Cassie rolled over onto her stomach and looked down. Robin stood on the rooftop, brandishing two paper bowls of ice cream with little pink spoons. She drifted down to the roof and grabbed hers – kissing his cheek in thanks.

He blushed. The two sat on the edge of the roof together.

"Mmm, chocolate," said Cassie. She looked at the sunset and watched the way the colours creeped into the pink underbelly of the clouds. "Do you ever get weird looks going into Baskin Robbins?"

Robin laughed, a light sound that echoed into the air. "Nah, Batman does sometimes. But I don't."

"Does he buy a lot of things as Batman?" asked Cassie. She raised an eyebrow. Her ice cream dripped off her spoon and onto her hand, so she took a moment to lick it off.

Robin's cheeks pinked. Cassie smirked a bit. "Uh… yeah, yeah, more than you'd think." He chuckled. "It's why we all always carry cash."

Cassie giggled and the two kept at their ice cream. Cassie chased the quickly melting scoops with her pink spoon. The deep shadows cast by the slow sunset split her ice cream into two shades of brown – one pale and one light. She kept shifting the bowl in hopes that the shadows would keep it from melting so quickly.

Moments later, Cassie realized Robin was staring at her. She turned to him and grinned. He ducked his head and flushed.

"You know," said Cassie. "We are dating. You're allowed to stare." A twinkle in her eye. "I don't mind."

Robin cleared his throat and stared out at the sunset. "So," he said. "Are you excited about school?"

With a raised eyebrow, Cassie mentally congratulated Robin on his terrible subject changing abilities. But, aloud, she let it slide. He was skittish. And, as cute as that was, she didn't want to risk him falling off the roof when she flirted with him. Again.

"I guess," said Cassie, setting aside her empty bowl. Flopping back into the roof, she stared up at the streaked sky – now dark blue and red-orange mixed with pink and purple clouds. "You?"

Robin shrugged. "Eh, school is school."

Cassie rolled onto her side to face him. "Is Billy going to the same school as you?" she asked.

Robin was silent.

"Right," said Cassie. "Secret ID stuff. I get it." And oh, that was much more bitter than she'd meant it to be.

"Cassie."

"No, no, it's fine," said Cassie. "I get it. Batman doesn't like his 'kicks telling people who they are. I mean, it probably gives him away pretty quickly too, right?" She shrugged. "It's fine. It's cool. Totally cool. I mean, that's probably why whoever took in Billy since his uncle died hasn't said anything yet. Too many secret ID questions." And yeah, she definitely sounded bitter.

Robin sighed. "Cassie." He scooted closer to her, tugged her up. Laced his fingers with hers and smiled. Even with the mask on, Cassie could tell it was wrinkling the corners of his eyes.

"I want to tell you," he said. "I want to tell you _everything_. But Batman's rules exist for a reason. Maybe not reasons I understand, but they keep him feeling like everything is safe. Like he can control it all."

"He can't," said Cassie stubbornly.

"I know," said Robin. "But he tries. And with all the stress going on in the house right now…" He shook his head. "Look, I will tell you. Batman or no Batman I _will_ tell you. I just… need some time first. Okay?"

Cassie smiled. She reached out and brushed her fingers through Robin's hair. Let her hand rest on the back of his neck. "Okay," she said.

And she kissed him. And he kissed her back. And, for a moment at least, she didn't care about the mask.

Pulling back, she held out her hand to Robin, smiling softly. He stared at her, and even with the mask she could see his brow furrowing.

"What?"

"Fly with me," said Cassie. She floated into the air and hovered off the edge of the roof. She kept just inside his reach, so he could take her outstretched hand.

"Is that safe?" asked Robin.

Cassie cocked her head to one side. "That depends."

"On what?"

"How much you trust me," said Cassie. Robin stared at her a moment longer, then he reached out and took her hand. Cassie pulled him close and lifted him away from the roof with her. He slipped his arms around her neck as they flew into the air.

"With my life, Cassie," Robin murmured in her ear. Cassie grinned, rolled over in mid-air, and took off toward the Gotham Harbour. The two laughed the whole way there.


	4. Cognitive Shifting

**Author's Note:** Again, thank you everyone for the feedback. It means a lot. Please feel free to leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter.

Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that non-canon non-labeled ships will appear from time to time (like in this chapter) but are not important in the overall story and will only show up once. Therefore, even if you don't ship something, I still deeply encourage you to keep reading, because these pairings will most often be off-hand references or be in a single time stamp. Why am I bringing this up? Well, in this chapter, I've decided to answer the question of who Raquel is marrying by picking the person on the show she was closest to in Season 2.

* * *

 **Chapter Four: Cognitive Shifting**

 _Metropolis. August 20_ _th_ _, 12:30 EDT_

Karen fiddled with the ring on her left middle finger. It twisted only slightly, having been put on back when she was still in high school. Her hands had grown since then. They'd picked up callouses and a handful of scars from her hero work over the years. Though some, like the ones on the pads of her fingers, were from lab work instead of hero work.

"Karen!" called Zatanna. She and Raquel headed toward her, laden down with shopping bags. Karen leaned back in her seat in the outdoor café, waving to them. The two women seemed to be bickering again, though it was probably amiable. It always was with those two.

Karen shook her head at them, but she was smiling all the same.

Zatanna dropped the bags next to the little bistro table and collapsed dramatically into the chair. She threw an arm over her eyes and sighed, loud and haughty.

"Raquel, be a dear and get me a café mocha," she said. Raquel rolled her eyes, but she set down her bags all the same. She paused as she passed Zatanna to kiss her cheek.

"You're lucky I love you," said Raquel.

Zatanna removed her arm to grin at Raquel. "Yeah, I am, but that _is_ why you're marrying me."

"No it's for your vast fortune and stunning good looks," said Raquel drily. She snorted and headed inside to buy drinks. Zatanna stared after her, head hanging back. When she straightened, she was smirking.

"I hate when she leaves," murmured Zatanna.

"But you love watching her go?" guessed Karen, with one eyebrow raised.

Zatanna grinned at her. "That is the line, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is," said Karen. "So, uh, when _is_ this wedding of yours?"

Zatanna shrugged and fiddled with her engagement ring. It was a simple thing with a purple stone – a nod to the colour her and Raquel's powers took on. "We didn't feel right, holding it in the summer, what with everything that happened."

"No doubt," said Karen, nodding. She stirred her straw in her half-melted frozen lemonade absently.

"And then Amistad is starting preschool in the fall, so we didn't want to put any more pressure on him Being away from us for missions is already hard enough," said Zatanna. She sighed. "And then I'm starting up part time classes again, and Raquel has a job as a bartender in a night club. So we're both pretty busy."

"Sounds it," said Karen. She couldn't quite keep the amusement out of her voice.

Zatanna snorted. "Yeah, yeah, no sympathy from our resident superhero double-major. Not _all_ of us want a heart attack before we're thirty, Karen."

"What's this about heart attacks?" asked Raquel, coming up behind the two. She passed the hot drink to Zatanna and grabbed the chair next to her. Raquel had grabbed herself some frozen pink thing – Karen thought it might be a fruit smoothie. Though they were more sugar than fruit here.

"Karen and her studies," said Zatanna. She sipped her mocha. "You know she's double majoring this year, right?"

Raquel stared. "Seriously, girl? Ain't you already going for a PhD in biology?"

"Yeah," said Karen, nodding. She couldn't keep the laugh from her words. "I want to go for a masters in chemistry too, though."

Raquel fell back in her chair and stared at the ceiling, her mouth slack. "You are going to die," she said, faintly. "Forget alien invasions, _school_ is going to kill you."

Karen really did laugh at that. A low, happy sound that erupted from her with a start. She shook her head at the two women – it seemed Zatanna had joined in on the shocked expressions – and grinned.

"Maybe," she said. "But I love to learn. And god knows I've got the money for it."

"True," said Zatanna. She reached over the back of her hair and rubbed Raquel's neck. The other woman hummed and shifted her head. "You're tense, hun."

"Neighbours are on me again," she muttered.

Zatanna snorted. "I'll zap 'em tonight." Then, softer, "Just a few more weeks and then we're gone. Just gotta hang in there."

"I know," said Raquel.

Karen chewed on her lower lip and looked down at the ring on her hand. She'd worn in since the day Mal had given it to her. A promise ring. Cheesy, old fashioned, but heartfelt. And he'd gotten her a really beautiful ring too. She was so used to wearing it she barely noticed it anymore. But lately the ring had weighed more and more until it was impossible to ignore.

"Can I ask you two something?" asked Karen.

"Course," said Zatanna.

Raquel sipped her drink before asking, "Is everything okay?"

Karen sighed. "Well, my anniversary for Mal is coming up in a few weeks," she said.

"Oh yeah? How long have you two been together?" asked Zatanna.

"Since sophomore year of high school. So… seven years now."

Raquel whistled. "Damn, girl, that's impressive. What's up?"

Karen fiddled with her ring for a few more seconds before answering. "I'm going to ask him to move in with me."

"Really? Congratulations!" said Zatanna, grinning. She leaned forward on the table on her elbows. "Do you need help with his stuff? I could shrink it. I'm getting really good at shrinking spells."

Karen shook her head. "No, no, it's nothing like that. It's just…" She sighed and sipped her lemonade. It was mostly water now. Bitter and washed out without the sugar.

"Don't you think I'm… going a bit slow?" asked Karen, staring at the two. Raquel and Zatanna looked at each other. Each one seemed to be daring the other to speak. After a few awkward seconds, Zatanna took the lead.

"Of course not," she said, and the confusion in her voice wrinkled her forehead. "Why would we?"

Karen gave them a flat look and looked at their matching engagement rings.

After a moment, Zatanna sighed. "Look, Karen," she said, leaning over to take one of Karen's hands in both of her own. "Raquel and I moved at our own pace. And yeah, that means we're engaged. That means we're getting married in December. And maybe we haven't been together as long as you and Mal. It's only been, what, four a bit years?" Zatanna glanced over her shoulder at Raquel, who was stealing some of Zatanna's mocha. She nodded.

"Right," said Zatanna, turning back to Karen. "But that was our pace. We talked it out. We decided what we both wanted out of this relationship. That doesn't make your own pace with Mal less valid." She smiled. "Everyone moves at their own pace, Karen, there's nothing wrong with that."

Karen shook her head. "I just feel like I'm going so slowly. What if Mal gets impatient? What if he leaves?"

"He won't," said Zatanna. "He loves you. He knows how you work. Work it out, talk it out. Talk to him. He would never force you to do anything, Karen." Zatanna ran her thumb over Karen's wrist. "Just talk to him."

Raquel added, "I think you're doing what's best for you. You're thinking about things, working it out, and not making rash decisions. That's what makes you comfortable, Karen."

Zatanna leaned back. "See? We both think you're fine."

"Thanks," said Karen, smiling at them.

Her communicator went off, interrupting their conversation.

"Bumblebee." It was Batgirl.

"I'm here," said Karen, already standing. "What's up?"

"Debriefing on the Watchtower in fifteen. Aqualad wants you up here," said Batgirl.

"Roger that, I'll be there," said Karen. She flicked off the com in her ear and turned to her friends. "I have to…"

They nodded. "Go," said Zatanna. "And tell us all about it when you get back."

Karen nodded, grabbed her backpack, and took off for the nearest Zeta-Beam. Just before she was out of ear shot, she heard Zatanna telling Raquel they should buy a dozen donuts and eat them by themselves.

Karen grinned at Raquel's quickly fading protests.

* * *

 _Watchtower. August 20_ _th_ _, 13:30 EDT_

On the Watchtower, Karen was quick to switch into her uniform and meet up with the others. In the briefing area was Robin, Superboy, and Batgirl. It appeared it was just them for whatever Aqualad had planned for today.

"Hey girl," said Karen, slipping up behind Batgirl. She smiled at Karen, but Aqualad spoke before she could reply.

"As you know, thanks to Kid Flash and Blue Beetle, we learned of a shipping operation of Venom that led us to Lex Luthor and several warehouses in Metropolis," said Aqualad. The various maps of the areas appeared behind him. "However, while we now know that Bane and Luthor are producing Splice, we do not know why nor where." He twitched his fingers and a map of a large area of islands appeared.

"While we assume Bane is operating in the Caribbean, Luthor is not someone to be easily anticipated," continued Aqualad. "But while Luthor is aware of many of our methods, Bane is not."

Robin frowned. "You found Bane?" he guessed.

Aqualad nodded. "Indeed," he said. He gestured to the screen over his right shoulder, which revealed a section of Blüdhaven. "We have tracked his location to a series of fighting rings in Blüdhaven, one of which is home to many of his old companions." He nodded to Superboy. "Superboy, you will take point. The four of you will be Alpha squad. Find Bane, question him, and find where he is producing this Splice. Then, report back."

"Sure thing," said Superboy. He looked to the others. "Everyone ready?" The others nodded and Superboy turned back to Aqualad. "All right, we'll be back as soon as we can."

"Good luck," said Aqualad.

Moments later, Aqualad was alone in the Watchtower. He went back to working the computers as he always did – keeping an eye on his team, working with them as needed, scanning for Nightwing when he had the chance. But, before long, a rogue signal caught his attention.

Kaldur stared at the signal for a few minutes. Watched it pulse on the screen and listened to its methodical beeping. He couldn't be sure what it was, only that it wasn't malicious. He scanned it as much as he could, but nothing in the computers was able to decode or track the signal.

As luck would have it, Hal Jordan chose that moment to walk by the room.

"Hal," called Kaldur. The lantern stopped and headed toward Kaldur.

"What's up?" he asked, leaning over Kaldur's shoulder.

"Do you know what this signal is?" asked Kaldur.

Hal frowned at it. "Not sure. Looks like a maintenance signal of some sort." He rubbed at his chin. "Let's hook the ring into the system, see if it can help."

Kaldur nodded and two started the long process of getting the lantern ring and the Watchtower computers to synchronize.

* * *

 _Somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. August 20_ _th_ _, 14:00 PDT_

Ominous storm clouds gathered behind Nightwing as he scaled the cliff face. Heavy winds alternated between attempting to whip him off the cliffs and slamming him back into their slippery surface. With gritted teeth, Nightwing scaled the cliff face and climbed up over a ledge. From there, he had hoped to see the mountain ridge expand out all around him.

He wasn't horribly high up, but the heavy fog and lumbering clouds reduced his visibility until he was left squinting to see more than a hundred feet in any direction. In any case, he couldn't see the ground anymore, and it looked like he'd be stuck here for a while.

No matter. He didn't plan on leaving without answers.

Shouldering his climbing gear, Nightwing turned from the ledge and headed into the cave behind him. His GPS blinked from time to time, indicating which direction he was to go in. Nightwing cracked one of the large glow sticks he carried and held it aloft. The light expanded in a puddle around him, casting faint illumination a few feet ahead of his feet.

Ever so slowly, Nightwing made his way through the cave with one hand against the wall – which alternated between sticky, slimy, and rough enough to scrape at his gloves.

This was the third location he'd tracked in so many weeks. The two before him had been dead ends. The Zeta-Beam residue long since destroyed or from other sources. Nothing had been fresh. Nothing had had clues.

Not until today.

The Zeta-Beam signatures inside this cave were fresh, as though they were still in use even today. He knew that the League didn't keep Zeta-Beams in this general vicinity. There was no purpose to it. No people; no civilizations; nothing. It was just a bunch of rocks and goats and trees. A mountain that people died on every year. And the people on it weren't important or obvious enough for the League to bother saving.

The thought brought a disgusted grimace on Nightwing's face. He shook it off. Negativity wasn't going to get him anywhere today. Not with so much to be found.

Nightwing crept through the cave system, feeling the walls and keeping his glow stick aloft. After a time – maybe ten minutes, maybe an hour. Down here, he couldn't be sure – voices started drifting up through the caves. Nightwing, careful to keep an eye on the GPS at his hip, followed them the best he could.

There was an odd familiarity to one of those voices, but at this distance he couldn't quite pin down the owner. The words were still mostly unintelligible and they echoed off the walls – ricocheting into an incomprehensible and overlapping set of voices that he had no hope of understanding.

Turning another corner, Nightwing found himself over a series of air vents. The vertical shafts spiraled up into the mountains and disappeared into dizzying darkness. But it was what laid below the shafts that sparked Nightwing's interest.

Beneath the shafts and through the vents, Nightwing could see an enormous room below him. The light from the room came up through the vents and illuminated the area around Nightwing faintly. He cracked his glow stick again to put it out and crept forward on his hands and knees.

In the room below was what looked to be weapon's trade facility. Nightwing scanned the area. He could make out the faces of several people in the room, but he didn't recognize them. Probably just grunts then. He did, however, recognize the technology.

The weapons were from Apokolips. Their designs and colour scheme made that much evident. There were a handful of guns, probably some grenades, and what looked to be a few high powered laser drills. Nightwing cocked his head a bit at that one. What on Earth were they planning to do with those?

His eyes scanned the area for the voices he'd picked up. Sure enough, moments later, Ugly and Whisper strolled into the room below him. According to Superboy, the two had been incapacitated months ago. How were they up and walking about? And what was with all this technology?

Nightwing pulled the scanner from his hip and studied its readings. Sure enough, it was still telling him that there was Zeta-Beam residue in the room. He shook his head. That simply wasn't possible.

With a flash and a crack, a Boom Tube opened up on a platform near Ugly. Several grunts came through holding boxes from Apokolips. Up in the shaft, Nightwing's scanner peaked. He shook it, but nothing changed.

The scanner was reading Boom Tube residue, not Zeta-Beam.

Crawling away from the opening, Nightwing dropped hard onto the cave floor and leaned against the wall. He stared at the scanner. His hands were limp around the device.

This wasn't possible. He'd been using the scanner to look for Wally. He'd used the exact energy signatures he'd found in the Arctic Circle, right where Wally had disappeared. They were Zeta-Beam signatures. Not Boom Tube. That was why he'd known Wally had to be alive. If they weren't Zeta-Beams, then…

Dick cursed and tossed the scanner. It hit the other wall and cracked.

"Fuck," he hissed under his breath. He scrubbed his fingers through his hair. Had he been chasing dead ends all this time? Had he wasted two months on nothing? Was he really back to square one?

A broken laugh bubbled up from his throat and escaped into the air around him.

"You hear something?" Ugly's voice drifted up through the vents.

"You three, check it out," said Whisper.

Nightwing cursed again and stood, flipping on the night vision in his lenses. He always hated night vision. Too green and without proper depth. But it'd do for an escape.

He couldn't get caught. He had to get back to Blüdhaven. He had to keep working. He had to start all over again.

Wally wasn't dead. The Scarab hadn't said "die", it had said "cease". That had to mean something. The energy signatures in the Arctic Circle had to mean something. It all had to mean _something._

Because if it didn't, Nightwing thought bitterly, then what was the point of anything?

* * *

 _Blüdhaven. August 20_ _th_ _, 18:16 EDT_

The Zeta-Beam fizzled out without so much as a sound as Conner and the others stepped through the phone booth.

With every kind of vision he had, Conner scanned the area immediately surrounding the Zeta-Beam. When nothing of interest caught his eye, he gestured for the others to emerge.

"By my map, we're three blocks out from Bane's hideout," said Robin, checking his wrist computer. Conner nodded.

"Take point, you know the way," he said.

The four heroes made their way through the back streets of Blüdhaven. Robin took point, as commanded, and used his computer to guide the others toward Bane's hideout. Half a block out, his guiding steps became redundant.

Before them stood the warehouse Bane was obviously working out of. There was short line of people trying to get into the building. Several bouncers that were taking entry fees. And Conner thought he recognized several of the lingering people. There was one – a woman with oddly spotted skin – who he tried to get a better look at.

Bumblebee floated into his vision, her tiny wings buzzing insistently. She pointed up to the roof of the warehouse.

"There's an open window about twenty-five feet up," she said. "The catwalk goes straight to the stairs. We can ambush him."

"With this many people?" asked Robin.

Bumblebee shook her head. "It looks like some kind of club. Bane's got an office off the stairs. We can hit him there without being seen. In and out without complication."

"Never goes that smoothly for us," said Conner absently. "Let's go."

The four heroes moved as one to the side of the building. Robin and Batgirl grappled up to the open window. Bumblebee flew in on her own. Conner got a few running steps behind him and leaped. He caught the ledge of the window and swung himself onto the catwalk. The four stood, silent, for a moment, before heading to the stairs.

"So, how exactly are we going to get Bane to tell us where he's working?" asked Bumblebee. Conner cracked his knuckles as they headed down the stairs. "Ah," said Bumblebee.

Batgirl shook her head. She was studying the corners for cameras. "That won't work, he's got Venom. And you know he'll be full of it here."

"That's why we use the Knuckle Busters," said Robin. He pulled them from his belt and tossed them to Conner, who nodded. Conner unfolded the busters and yanked them over his hands. When he knocked them together electricity danced across them.

"Even Bane's not immune to electric shock," said Conner.

Batgirl shook her head again. "And when this brings everyone else into the office?"

"It won't," said Conner. They hit the bottom of the stairs and crept out into the hallway toward Bane's office.

"How do you know?" hissed Batgirl.

Conner peaked around a corner. "Bane's not one for showing pain." He gestured for the others to follow him around the corner.

Batgirl scowled. "Machoism or not," she said, keeping her voice pitched low, "Bane isn't going to let us beat him for information."

"No, he's not," said Conner, grinning. "Which is what I'm counting on."

Batgirl stopped for a second and Robin came up next to her. He glanced up at her and flashed her a smile. Batgirl frowned.

"Do you have any idea what he's doing?" asked Batgirl. Conner smirked as he kept on.

"Somewhat," said Robin. "But Superboy has good plans, Batgirl, we just have to trust him. He is a senior member after all."

She sighed. "Yeah, I know."

"What's with you?" hissed Robin. They were coming up on Bane's office now. Conner gestured for the two to keep their voices down. Another flick of his wrist and Bumblebee zipped off down the hall to check for cameras and guards.

"You're usually fine with taking orders," said Robin.

Another sigh from Batgirl. "It just feels wrong, being in _his_ city without him knowing."

"Yeah," said Robin. There was a shift in his uniform, Conner guessed that he was rubbing his fingers through his hair. "It does."

Before the conversation could continue, Bumblebee reappeared.

"All clear," she said. Conner nodded and the four headed to Bane's office, only a dozen feet down the hallway.

Conner didn't bother with knocking, he simply opened the door and cracked his knuckles. Bane looked up from his phone call as the office light brought Conner into proper view.

"I'm going to have to put you on hold, ese," said Bane. He tapped a button on his phone and set it down. With laced fingers, he regarded the four heroes. "Really, just you four? What do you want?"

Conner grinned and cracked the Knuckle Busters together. They sparked ominously. "Answers," he said.

Bane scowled and stood. It was a slow, deliberate action. His chair drew back evenly. He rose until he seemed to fill the room. In those few seconds, it was a stare down between Conner and Bane. The others in the room might as well not have been there.

"You won't get them," said Bane.

"We'll see," said Conner.

It was a standoff, plain and simple. Conner knew he couldn't full out attack Bane when there were dozens of his lackies upstairs. And Bane knew that he knew. The Knuckle Busters were mostly for show. A hope that Bane would fold when they both knew he wouldn't.

Bane failed to notice that Robin had disappeared.

Bane came around the desk and got in Conner's face. He loomed over Conner, but the effect was lost. Conner didn't flinch. Didn't bat an eye. Bane was small potatoes next to what they had been facing for the past year.

"You think you scare me after alien invasions and psychotic warlords?" asked Conner, raising an eyebrow.

Bane growled, low in his throat. He swung. Conner caught the fist four inches from his face. He smirked.

"My turn," said Conner. He swung, Knuckle Busters crackling with electricity, and caught Bane across the face. Bane hit his desk – four feet behind him. It cracked down the center and everything went crashing to the ground.

Bane snarled and lunged at Conner again. Conner jumped, flipped over Bane. Kicked him square in the back. Bane hit the ground on his stomach. Conner stood on him.

"Next victim," said Conner. The dry sarcasm in his voice only made Bane growl, but the man made no attempt to stand.

"My people will be down here in minutes," snarled Bane.

"Oh, probably," said Conner. "But we won't be around by then."

Bane growled. "What? I thought you wanted answers."

Conner grinned. "Yeah, we did." He looked to Robin, who had reappeared next to him. "You got what we needed?"

Robin nodded.

"Then let's get the hell out of here," said Conner.

The four filed out of the room and Batgirl couldn't help but stumble over her words as they did. "How… what…?"

As they headed up the stairs, Conner turned and grinned at her. "Just because I _like_ hitting things doesn't mean that's the only thing I know how to do." He shrugged, a roll of his shoulders that took out most of the knots in one go. "I knew we couldn't make this a firefight, even though I would _love_ to punch out Bane a few more times. There were just too many people."

"So you planned for him to hit you and draw an audience because you wanted Bane distracted," said Batgirl.

Conner nodded. "Exactly."

"So what did you grab then?" asked Bumblebee. They hit the catwalk then, so no one could respond. Within moments they'd gotten to the window, down to the ground, and across the lot. As they hit the other side of the lot and disappeared into the side streets, Conner heard the men hit Bane's office.

Fifty-seven seconds from when Bane had raised his silent alarm. Slow timing. Bane should really fix that.

Robin pulled up a few images on his wrist computer. "Plane tickets to Barbados," said Robin, mostly to Conner. "And coordinates of his last transmissions to his people."

Conner frowned. "Barbados?" he echoed.

"Looks like that's where he's operating," said Robin.

"Alright," said Conner. "Let's get back to the Watchtower. Looks like we're going to Barbados."


	5. Diffuse Reflection

**Author's Note:** With school starting up, there is a distinct possibility that chapters are going to be late for awhile. I'll do my best to keep my schedule, but if a chapter goes up on Sunday instead of Thursday, please don't be alarmed. I have a very intense program these next two semesters, and I don't know how much free time I'll have until January.

With that in mind - I want to thank everyone who follows and reads the story, and give an extra special thank you to everyone who leaves feedback. Reviews are easily the most motivating thing I can get, and I always love when people leave them. So please, if you like the chapter, consider leaving a review. Thank you.

* * *

 **Chapter Five: Diffuse Reflection**

 _Watchtower. August 23_ _rd_ _, 10:15 EDT_

Billy fiddled with his hands in his lap. He stared at the small callouses and the few faint scars he'd picked up over his six years of being on the league. The couch he sat on was firm, but not uncomfortably so, and the patterns of the floor repeated twenty times between the two pieces of furniture in his immediate vision.

Across from him, sitting in a chair the same shade of grey as the couch, sat Black Canary. She had a tablet sitting on the small end table to her right, alongside a cup of coffee.

"Billy," said Black Canary. And it was still weird, to hear other league members say his name. Weirder still to be on the Watchtower as his fifteen year old self, not his usual Captain Marvel self. It left him narrow-shouldered and slightly hunched. He kept his hands close and his eyes down. Gnawed on his lower lip until it was raw and red.

"I know things must be rough for you right now," said Black Canary. "But I'd like to help. Talking about things that seem daunting can make them manageable."

Billy frowned. "But… there's nothing daunting in my life right now." He stumbled over his words. Felt himself falter as his brow furrowed.

"Your uncle died almost two months ago," offered Black Canary.

"Yeah and I'm still upset over that, obviously, but I'm mourning at my own speed. It's not something that I can't handle," said Billy. He folded his arms across his chest and slumped against the back of the couch. "He lived a great life. He was old. He was tired. He's in a better place." He offered Black Canary a weak smile. "I'll be okay."

"You're sure?" asked Black Canary. She raised an eyebrow.

Billy shrugged. "Yeah. And like, it's not like I'm alone, ya know? I've got a bunch of friends here who know what it's like to lose people. And Batman freaking _adopted_ me." A shocked laugh tumbled from his lips. "I still can't believe that."

"He is quite fond of strays," said Black Canary. Her smile touched the corners of her eyes, turning them warm. "Are you adjusting well to life in Gotham?"

"Yeah!" said Billy. He shot up straight, grinning. "Gotham is amazing. Dark, but so cool. There's so much to explore. And with the Zeta-Beams I can still protect Fawcett City too. And I get to go to Gotham Academy with Robin." He was almost bouncing in his seat. "It's going to be amazing." Then, his smile faltered. "Batman's… kind of distant lately though."

Black Canary frowned. "I've noticed that as well. Does it bother you?"

Billy shook his head. "Nah, he's Batman, he's not exactly Mr. Hugs-a-lot. I mean he still spends time with me and he's still training me. But he's dealing with a lot right now too, what with Nightwing AWOL and all." A ghost of a smile passed his lips. "And he's been showing me all the best routes in Gotham for getting around. It's… nice."

"You always liked Bruce," said Black Canary.

"Of course," said Billy. "He never thought my age could stop me from being a hero. He doesn't freak out when I hug him. And he's always helped me with my problems and my homework." Billy leaned back on the couch and stared at the ceiling. "He's great."

"He is," agreed Black Canary. "How are you getting along with Tim?"

"Fine," said Billy. "We're both fifteen. And we like computers." He shrugged. "And he and Bruce and Alfred are all cool about the whole, ya know…"

"No, I don't," said Black Canary.

Billy pressed his lips together and made a vague hand gesture. "The gay thing."

Black Canary smiled. "Ah, right." She leaned forward and clasped her hands together. "And you're 'cool' with it as well?"

"'Course," said Billy. "It's not hard when everyone that knows is okay with it." He smiled. "Plus Gotham Academy is more accepting that Fawcett. So, maybe…" He shook his head. "I'm a superhero, I shouldn't be thinking about dating."

"And why not?" asked Black Canary, smiling. "Look at myself and Oliver – we've been together for seven years. It's never got in the way of our work."

Billy nodded. "Maybe," he conceded. His phone vibrated then, stopping any other conversation. Billy dug it out of his back pocket and checked it. "Oh! Tim wants to show me this pizza place in Gotham with Cassie." He looked up at Black Canary. "Can I?"

She gestured to the door. "Go have fun, we'll talk again soon."

Billy hopped up, grabbed his jacket, and tore off for the door. "Later BC!"

* * *

 _Mars. August 23_ _rd_ _, 14:00 UTC_

In the shadows of Mars, M'gann and B'arzz floated high above the ground, staring at the stars and picking out the constellations. M'gann offered the Earth names, while B'arzz offered the Martian names.

" _After all this searching, it's nice to just relax for a few minutes,"_ said M'gann. Her telepathic voice was soft in the starry expanse of her mental link with B'arzz. Visions of the last few days – fruitless searches, meaningless lockdowns, and growing tempers from the law enforcement – hung themselves amidst the stars. The only reprieve had been questioning the various civilians in areas Ma'alefa'ak had supposedly been spotted in. The fluid verses of Low Martian had been music to M'gann's mind after so long of only hearing the sharp syllables of High Martian.

" _Indeed,"_ said B'arzz, and M'gann let herself drift in the warmth of his voice. _"I must ask you a question, however."_

M'gann floated higher than B'arzz and rolled over onto her stomach. Looked down at the man who looked so different from her. _"Of course."_ Her thoughts were coated in quiet smiles and reassurance – honey and gingersnaps.

" _Several of the citizens we interviewed seemed almost… scared of you,"_ said B'arzz. His voice bounced from star to star, hesitant in its syllables. _"Why is that?"_

M'gann sighed. A silent thing that expanded into the space between them and dragged the stars to the edge of her mindscape. _"Their senses tell them I am dangerous. Their minds say I am more powerful than them."_ She spiralled up into the sky in lazy circles and let herself fall. Fifty feet down she caught herself again, tucked into a ball, and rolled toward B'arzz. She stretched out again just below him.

B'arzz's astonishment was like vinegar coated fries on a hot summer day. The heat pooling the smell until it made her eyes water – not from pain, but from intensity.

" _As much as we've worked together,"_ said B'arzz. The vinegar flavour diminished until it was one of several on M'gann's palette. A second flavour – this one of dusty caves and hide and seek – overlapped it. _"I do not believe I know what you are capable of."_

M'gann gave a rolling, mental shrug that tugged the stars back into their minds. _"Few do,_ " was her only response.

Sharp stabbing pain down the centre of their mindscape. B'arzz and M'gann cried out. Flew apart both mentally and physically. B'arzz went spinning toward the ground. M'gann flew back a few feet and straightened herself out. She dove for B'arzz. Reached out telekinetically and _there_. He slowed and stopped in mid-air, still hovering a good ten feet above the ground. He shook himself off and wrapped his own telekinesis around his form. M'gann released him.

" _What was that?"_ asked B'arzz. M'gann felt the presence a second before the words hit her mind. She turned, eyes already glowing.

" _Hello M'orzz."_ From the shadows of the rocks came a scarred green Martian.

" _Ma'alefa'ak."_ M'gann let every ounce of anger in her body coat her words. The two Martians spiralled around each other – fifty feet apart – and drifted higher and higher into the sky. Below them, B'arzz watched, and his fear and trepidation were starbursts in M'gann's mind, tainted sour-lemon yellow.

" _Where is J'onn?"_ Ma'alefa'ak's voice was a hiss across her mind. Sharp and snaking. Dark as blood and far more metallic.

" _I don't know,"_ M'gann hissed back.

" _You lie!"_ Another slam of Ma'alefa'ak's voice. M'gann flinched hard at the relentless attack to her psyche. She hardened her focus into a wide wall. Forced it forward until the stars above her were blotted out from faint white light. He pressed forward, eyes glowing. His eyes appeared above her mindscape. Impossibly huge. They swallowed all the white light. Her mindscape went pale green.

M'gann reached out in front of her. Held her hands straight out and grabbed the rocks on either side of Ma'alefa'ak. She clapped her hands together and the rocks slammed into him. He shot out of them and went straight up. His glowing eyes were pinpricks on the starry sky of the physical world, even as his eyes totally overwhelmed M'gann across their shared mindscape.

With a snarl, M'gann forced her own mind forward. She spun around Ma'alefa'ak's impossibly large eyes and then dove right through the left one. His scream echoed across their minds and into the empty expanse between them. M'gann grabbed at the weakness and _pulled_. Felt the way his mind buckled beneath her fingertips. She screamed and the sound echoed both in and out of her mind. Threw itself into both starry skies and ripped itself back down to Ma'alefa'ak. He screamed back. The sound low and howling. He was wind and she was lightning. And she would not _lose_ to the man who killed her uncle's wife and daughter.

Ma'alefa'ak recovered. His body spiralled up into the sky and M'gann gave chase. Within their minds, he rose up once more. His form a serpent that wrapped itself around her. M'gann struggled against the constriction. M'alefa'ak chuckled into her ear. His slippery mind twisted behind her eyes and beneath her tongue. She tasted blood and vengeance and smelt the corpses of her people.

M'gann gasped and fought harder. She gagged against the smell as it assaulted her every pore. But she could not _see_. Her world had shrunk down to this mental serpent that wrapped around her very essence.

" _M'gann!_ " And there was B'arzz. M'gann's physical eyes flew open. She was falling. Falling and falling and she _slammed_ into the ground. Her body screamed. Her vision went white. She choked on the dust. Gasped for breath. Inside her mind M'alefa'ak wrapped tighter and tighter around her.

Both Ma'alefa'ak and M'gann rose into the air on the surface of Mars. Her body held aloft by his telekinesis. She was limp and pained. Exhausted and confused. Her vision refused to focus and so did her mind. The barb of Ma'aleka'ak's mental tail dug into her skin, forcing itself into her surface thoughts and then deeper.

B'arzz shot out from the rocks and grabbed at Ma'alefa'ak both physically and psychically. He dragged Ma'alefa'ak away from M'gann. Grabbed the tail just before it pierced too deep.

" _M'gann, you must think,"_ said B'arzz. His mental voice coated honey across her body and left her slippery and glowing.

Ma'alefa'ak wheeled around and slammed every inch of his psychic force into B'arzz's mind. B'arzz's psychic form cracked in half and exploded into dust. His physical form fell to the surface. Eyes rolled back and mind whited out.

Rage coated M'gann's body. It was red hot chilli and the screams of her friends. It was Conner howling to the moon with Wolf as he attacked. It was Roy learning that no one believed Arsenal was alive. It was Kaldur and Wally seeing Tula and Artemis die. It was Batman when Nightwing was captured by Deathstroke.

It was a tidal wave of every ounce of rage she had every experienced on Earth through hers and others' eyes. M'gann let the thoughts erupt in every direction. Wrapped them around herself and _attacked._

Her scream tore through Ma'alefa'ak's mental defenses. Her team rose around her – astral projections across her mental landscape that screamed alongside her.

Ma'alefa'ak laughed even as he was tossed backward into the glowing green stars that erupted around him. _"You attack me with_ children? _"_

M'gann grinned. It was Conner and Roy. She let the flavours of their rage – charred meat and cherries – coat her words as she spoke.

" _You could handle my uncle, but you can't handle me,"_ she said. Her voice echoed across their shared mindscape. Drove shrapnel into Ma'alefa'ak's body. He screamed as he clawed at her friends. Howled and shifted. Tossed them back with his barbed tail and snake-body.

" _White Martian scum!"_ roared Ma'alefa'ak. And oh, that was a terrible idea on his part.

M'gann caught Conner's hand and aimed. _"Get out of my head!"_ And Ma'alefa'ak was blasted backward again and again by her unfiltered rage.

In the physical world, M'gann threw every ounce of her telekinesis at Ma'alefa'ak, driving him higher and higher into the Mars sky until they seemed to battle amidst the stars themselves.

Ma'alefa'ak redoubled his attacks. Forced his barbs at M'gann's defenses and dug deeper and deeper. Cursed and screamed in High and Low Martian. Images of all the Martians he'd killed exploded behind M'gann's eyes. She wrapped them around her like a cloak and smothered Ma'alefa'ak's attacks with their final words. She threw Nightwing's birdarangs at Ma'alefa'ak and watched the memories of battles long since over attack him relentlessly.

Drove him higher and higher into the Martian sky. Then slammed into him with all her power and drove him straight _down._ He screamed as he fell. Screamed as M'gann's memories tore his psychic projection in two. Screamed as she ripped those pieces smaller and smaller until he was nothing but green paste in the grand expanse of her memories and her feelings.

And with a great explosion of noise and dust, Ma'alefa'ak and M'gann crashed into the surface of Mars. She on top of him. Her fists halfway through his chest. He went silent. He went limp.

M'gann stepped away from Ma'alefa'ak and shook off the memories and the feelings that weren't quite her own. Her entire body shook – but from exhaustion or from rage, she couldn't tell. Her breaths came in uneven strips as she struggled to control herself. Struggled not to scream or break down crying or both.

She felt a presence to her left and looked. It was B'arzz, standing, and holding his side. His fear lingered around him, a cloak of pale yellow moonlight and sharp black licorice that stung more than it should have.

" _M'gann?"_ His voice was a hoarse whisper across the ragged edges of her mind.

She looked him in the eye. _"Now you know."_

" _Know why?"_ asked B'arzz.

" _What I'm capable of."_

* * *

 _Watchtower. August 23_ _rd_ _, 18:45 EDT_

Aquaman and Wonder Woman scowled at each other over the meeting table, the words of reporter Cat Grant echoing in the room from the projection screen.

"Of course," Cat Grant was saying. "Lex Luthor has put in his bid to become Secretary General of the United Nations, but without the support of more nation leaders, he stands little chance at gaining that role. This makes his reaching out to both Atlantis and Themyscira a strong politic move. If they join the United Nations, Luthor's chances of becoming Secretary General will skyrocket."

Diana scoffed and folded her arms, leaning back in her chair. "This is ridiculous," she said. "There is absolutely no chance we are joining the United Nations, not after it was Luthor who offered to assist us in joining."

Orin shook his head. "I'm not sure, Diana. After everything that happened with the Reach, it would be wise of us and our nations to be more open to discussion and diplomacy."

"If the world does not trust us after we saved them-"

" _We_ saved them?" asked Orin, incredulous. He let out a bark of disbelieving laughter. "Diana, it was our prodigies that saved the world. It was our prodigies that figured this all out. We did nothing to stop the Reach and you know it." He planted a hand palm-down on the table. "We need the world to trust us."

Diana growled. "Themyscira has never done anything to deserve the mistrust Man's World gives it. The Amazons are not murderers or aliens! We are not criminals!" Her voice rose to a shout as she spoke.

Orin tossed his hands into the air and stood. "Maybe so," he said. "But we are two nations the world knows nothing about it. Two nations that could devastate this planet is we wanted to."

"That's not true," said Diana.

"I have _seen_ you stand up to missiles, Diana. You've been bombed and the worst it's done is harm your outfit and your hair." Orin shook his head and sighed. "We have spent so long trying to protect our own people that we harmed the rest of the world in the process." His eyes were soft as he looked at her. Soft as he thought about all that had happened while he had remained beneath the surface.

"Diana," said Orin. "We need to make amends. We need to help the world see that we are not the enemy. With the Reach gone, their fear will turn to us. We don't need that."

Diana shook her head. "This is Lex Luthor we're talking about. He is planning something, Orin. I know it."

"And so do I," agreed Orin. "But Diana, he has us backed into a corner. If we say no, we'll look the fools. We'll be the ones who don't trust the _world_ , not just Luthor."

"But if we say yes…"

"Luthor wins," finished Orin. He sighed and so did Diana. "There are no good options here."

"No, there aren't," said Diana. The two turned their attention back to the news, where Cat Grant was speaking about the recent election news in America. Presidential campaigns were well underway, and Lex Luthor was supporting the third party candidate.

Neither hero spoke. They both had too much on their minds.

* * *

 _Barbados. August 23_ _rd_ _, 22:16 AST_

The boat pulled up near the docks just after twenty-two hundred hours. With her night vision goggles, Tigress could see the guards Bane had posted around his factory base. There were four, no, five, in her immediate vision. There were probably others in different areas, but from here, she couldn't see them. She only hoped none of them could see her or Alpha Squad either.

Bumblebee, Wonder Girl, and Lagoon Boy waited on the boat for her instructions. Back on the Watchtower, the four had been prepped on their mission to Barbados. Aqualad had chosen them based on their intel and their skill sets, but Tigress couldn't shake the growing pit of anxiety in her stomach. This was an incredibly important mission. She couldn't screw it up.

She wasn't ready for it.

"All right," said Tigress, in a voice too reminiscent of her days on Black Manta's sub. "We'll circle the edge, stick to the trees, and keep our eyes peeled. When we find an opening, we take it." She nodded to Lagoon Boy. "Take the water, you'll be looking for underwater security and entrances."

"Will do," said Lagoon Boy.

Tigress said to Bumblebee, "Bumblebee, shrink down and scan the factory if you can get close. But don't sacrifice your stealth for it – if you can't get close without being seen, don't bother. We need the element of surprise."

"Sure thing," said Bumblebee.

"Wonder Girl, you're with me. We're going to check out everything at ground level," said Tigress.

Wonder Girl narrowed her eyes. "Because I'm not Stealther Girl?" she asked. And her voice was somewhere between annoyed and ashamed. Tigress knew that tone well. She'd used it a lot back when she thought the team didn't trust her.

And that was the real joke wasn't it? Wonder Girl trusted _Kaldur_. The guy everyone had thought killed her. But Wonder Girl didn't trust Tigress.

Truthfully, Tigress didn't blame her. Not when she'd blown the Klarion mission. Not when she was running around in her old super villain persona. Not when she blocked out everyone and anyone who tried to talk to her.

"No, because if those Splice creatures are around, you're the only one who's fought them," said Tigress.

Wonder Girl pinked. "Oh." Then, ducking her head, she mumbled, "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," said Tigress. She wasn't much of a leader anyway. Questions were expected. "Let's move out."

The four split off. Lagoon Boy dove under the water. Bumblebee took off into the trees. And Wonder Girl and Tigress took to the ground, using the foliage for cover and peering through the shadows whenever they got a chance.

Their communicators were silent, but that didn't stop Tigress from running every single possibility through her head while they moved. Bane probably had dozens of guys around every single corner. Splice creatures too, most likely.

Kaldur had said that this was a stealth mission. That much was obvious. Get in, gather intel, blow the place, and get out. The classic Team stealth mission. Explosions not optional.

The thought almost made her snort, and it drew Wonder Girl's attention.

"You okay?" whispered Wonder Girl. Tigress waved her off.

"Bane's goons are circling counter-clockwise around the factory," said Tigress. "There's five of them circling, and I spot two more near us." She gestured to get down. "Stay low. One of them doesn't look right."

Wonder Girl nodded. The two crept forward. A few moments later, Tigress caught sight of the odd looking goon again. Long face, pointed at the end. Probably canine. Which meant a good sense of smell. She hoped they were downwind from him.

"Tigress, I've spotted an entrance to the factory. Rotating guards," said Bumblebee's voice over the coms.

Tigress nodded. "Roger that, keep an eye out."

"Will do. There's four more guards here and – shit!" The last word a shout. Sudden static.

"Bumblebee?" called Tigress. "Bumblebee!" She gritted her teeth. "Damn it. It's dead."

Wonder Girl stared at Tigress with wide eyes. Taking a deep breath, Tigress gestured for them to continue forward. The two pushed through the undergrowth surrounding the trees. Tigress took them on a wide arc around the goons, not wanting to risk running into them.

Through the trees, Tigress could spot the factory. The closer they came to it, the more goons she spotted. There were over two dozen outside the factory from what she could tell now. It had started with five rotating guards. Then two in the trees. As more and more appeared Tigress couldn't help the intense feeling of foreboding that crept between her shoulder blades and buried itself in her spine.

"I don't like this," muttered Tigress. She tapped her com and called Lagoon Boy. "Lagoon Boy, what's your status?"

Coughing and cursing over the coms in Atlantean. "Let me go! You can't hold me." Lagoon Boy's voice. Shouting and angry.

Tigress felt the blood leave her face. "Oh no," she breathed. There was a chuckle over the coms that definitely didn't belong to Lagoon Boy.

"Where are the others?" Bane's voice then. His Spanish accent thick as always.

"Why is Bane here?" asked Wonder Girl. "I thought Conner said his tickets weren't for another week!"

In that instant, all the pieces slotted themselves together. Tigress watched them fall into place behind her eyes. Saw the purpose of their mission. Saw the tickets for what they were.

"It's a trap," she breathed. "It's all been a set-up." Rustling to the left and she spun, sword raised.

Two Splice creatures rushed out of the trees. How had they gotten so close?

"Wonder Girl, look out!" shouted Tigress. She ran at the Splice creatures and aimed a kick for one of their chests. The Splice creature wheezed and stumbled back. The other came rushing forward. Caught Tigress' kick and swung in close. An uppercut to the jaw. Tigress hit a tree head first. Stars danced in her vision.

To the left, Wonder Girl fought three more Splice creatures. Slammed a fist into one. Caught the kick of another and swung him into the third. A net came down from the trees. Wrapped around her shoulders. Wonder Girl went down screaming and spitting.

Tigress got back to her feet. Grabbed her short blades and flipped them into reverse grips. She charged at the Splice creatures that had grabbed Wonder Girl. Got two good hits on one of them. Blood spurted from its left shoulder. The goon snarled and snapped. Long jaw and sharp teeth scrapped Tigress. Sudden pain blooming behind her eyes and across her right arm. Her shoulder bled into the undergrowth as she fought.

Another one behind her. Tigress spun, tossed the second blade. It caught the Splice in the gut. He went down into a tree. Tigress tucked and rolled. Grabbed her sword from the ground and sprung back up to her feet. Her blade came up just in time to catch the pincers of another Splice. She buckled under the weight and took a knee. The creature kept coming.

A rope went around her upper arms and hauled her back. Sword and pincers went into the dirt. Tigress struggled as the rope was tightened. The creature behind her tied it off and tossed her toward Wonder Girl.

"You won't get away with this," said Wonder Girl. "We have friends. Other team mates. They'll find us!"

"Bastards," growled Tigress.

Another Splice came out of the shadows. Except, Tigress realized, it wasn't a Splice. It was a feline woman – Cheetah. She leaned close to Tigress and grinned her feline grin.

"Shut up," said Cheetah. Something struck Tigress across the back of her head. The world tilted, went foggy. She fell forward into the dirt and the world went dark.


	6. Cohesive Force

**Author's Note:** I do apologize for the delay with this chapter, I know I missed the last update. But this chapter is much longer than most of the others and much more intense as well. A lot of things are starting to happen and I wanted to make sure I had them all in order.

With that in mind, please leave a review if you like the chapter! Writing these is a lot of work and every bit of feedback makes it easier and easier.

It's also my birthday today! (October 15). So reviews would make a great present!

* * *

 **Chapter Six: Cohesive Force**

 _Watchtower. August 24_ _th_ _, 12:16 EDT_

Conner looked over the Beta Squad he had been assigned to. Robin, Static, and Kid Flash stood in a loose semi-circle to his left. In front of the four was Aqualad, who had pulled a map of Barbados up onto the computers. Two other screens were up, one indicating the four missing members of Alpha Squad – Tigress, Wonder Girl, Bumblebee, and Lagoon Boy – and the other displaying lists of numbers that Aqualad was currently explaining.

"Alpha Squad arrived at Bane's known base in Barbados just after twenty-two hundred hours yesterday. As of right now, they have been missing for almost eleven hours," said Aqualad. He folded his arms across his chest. "This is not a recon mission. This is not an attack mission. This is strictly search-and-rescue."

Kid Flash bounced on his heels. He was fiddling with his hands again. His fingers darting across the knuckles of his opposite hand. Then he switched hands. Conner frowned as he watched the way Kid Flash moved. He was like a squirrel with his darting eyes and his fiddling hands. And the way Bart favoured his left shoulder made Conner wonder what was going on in his life.

"Superboy, you will be leading Beta Squad on this rescue mission," Aqualad was saying. "Find Alpha Squad, rescue them, and get out as fast as you can. Batman has given us an experimental stealth plane to use for this mission."

Kid Flash lit up. "We get to fly the Batplane?" he asked, still bouncing on his heels.

"No," said Aqualad. Kid Flash deflated. "You get to fly the Team plane." He smirked. "Different shape, same concept." Kid Flash perked again, grinning.

Conner rubbed his hands together and clicked his tongue. "Alright," he said. "Everybody load up onto the plane." He paused and glanced at Kid Flash. Then, "I'll fly."

"Awww," said Kid Flash, slumping forward like a doll whose strings had just been cut.

"Let's go save our friends," said Conner. The three other members of Beta Squad filtered out of the room. Conner hung back for a second to look at Kaldur.

"You all right?" asked Conner. Kaldur was paler than usual. The skin around his gills taunt. His eyes duller. When speaking as their leader, you almost couldn't tell. But now, silent, Conner saw the cracks in his façade.

"Yes," said Kaldur. His firm tone left no room for argument.

Conner sighed. "All right. We'll be back as soon as we can." He turned and left the room, but his concern for Kaldur remained even as he boarded the plane. Something was wrong, he needed to find out what.

* * *

 _Watchtower. August 24_ _th_ _, 15:16 EDT_

Aqualad studied the two computer screens closely – well aware that neither one related to the other. The screen to his left was a long list of information he and Hal Jordan had come up with regarding the distress beacon from deep space. The screen to his right was information about a warning at Belle Reve. A code yellow had been issued only half an hour before, but the code was gone now, and the "all clear" was being projected instead.

"I'm not sure what to think," Kaldur confessed.

In the corner of the right screen, the image of Batman frowned. "Neither am I," he said from the Batcave. "But Belle Reve doesn't go straight to the all-clear, something is going on."

Kaldur nodded and rubbed his chin. "I could send a team. We're a bit stretched at the moment, but I can spare Beetle and Batgirl."

"No, I can look into it myself. I just wanted your opinion on the matter."

With a sigh, Kaldur nodded. "Truthfully, Batman, this worries me. Nothing good ever comes from such an abrupt cut-off of an alarm – especially not in such a place as Belle Reve."

"Agreed," said Batman. "I'll keep you posted. Batman, out." With that, his face disappeared from the corner of the right screen.

Kaldur ran a hand over his hair. His fingers brushed the sparse regrowth on the sides of his head. If he kept up with the regular buzzing, he'd have his old hair style back within the month. It would be nice to have something familiar on the Watchtower, even if it was only his reflection.

Behind him, someone cleared their throat. Kaldur turned. In the entrance to the room stood Aquaman. He had his arms folded across his chest and was frowning. The uncharacteristic look tugged downward at his eyes. It left Aquaman looking much older than he actually was, and Kaldur couldn't help the stab of worry that shot through his chest at the sight.

"My king," said Kaldur, taking a step forward. "You seem troubled. Is everything well?" Aquaman opened his mouth, closed it. Seemed to falter a moment. He tugged at his beard and then sighed. It was an old gesture, one Kaldur remembered from his training days. But he hadn't seen it in a long time. In fact, the last time he'd seen that gesture, Aquaman had been apologizing for hiding Kaldur's birth father's identity from him.

Kaldur swallowed hard and fought the urge to run. He wasn't sure he could handle anymore surprises.

"No," said Aquaman finally. "Everything is not well, I'm afraid. I've just come from Atlantis." Kaldur swallowed hard. He should have known. Today had been the initial hearing regarding his treason. With everything going on, Kaldur had forgotten.

He told himself that Atlantis would forgive him. That Aquaman would stand for him and keep Kaldur from execution or exile. But seeing the look on Aquaman's face, Kaldur couldn't make himself believe his own thoughts.

"The hearing," said Kaldur, when Aquaman didn't speak again. The two faced each other. A silent stand off as each tried to find a way to word what they wanted to say. Kaldur swallowed again. Felt the way his gills fluttered. Aquaman's gaze fell to Kaldur's gills. Silently, Kaldur cursed. They had betrayed his worry more times than he could count.

"Atlantis has decided on a day for your trial," said Aquaman slowly. His gaze lifted to find Kaldur's. "January 16th."

Kaldur nodded, his lips pressed tightly together. Four and a half months away. A long time to wait, but he had waited longer.

"All right," said Kaldur.

Aquaman tugged at his beard again. "They've also issued an order regarding your return to Atlantis."

Kaldur's blood went cold. Would he only be allowed in specific parts of Atlantis? Would he require a series of guards? Or perhaps he'd only be allowed in a specific building, and his mother would have to visit him there. All were deserving. None were kind.

"Until your trial, you've been barred from Atlantis and from the ocean. Until a verdict has been reached, you may not enter the ocean whatsoever," said Aquaman.

Kaldur's vision spotted. His knees buckled and he grabbed at nothing to hold himself up. Crumbled to the ground, his legs splayed under him.

"No," he whispered. His voice was hoarse. His world tilted back and forth. Faintly, he was aware of Aquaman running toward him and grabbing his shoulders. But Kaldur saw it all from far away. He felt nothing of the floor or Aquaman's hands. Heard nothing but the pounding rhythm of his heart and the hoarse shaking breaths of his lungs.

 _Barred from Atlantis._ The words rung all around him. They twisted and contorted themselves until they were hollow mockeries of their original meaning. _Barred from the ocean._ No more midnight swims. No more speaking with the aquatic life when he couldn't sleep. No more visiting his home.

And, Poseidon save him, no more visiting his mother. His _mother._ Whom he'd only spoken to twice since he'd returned from Black Manta's sub. Who had forgiven him instantly upon seeing the look in his eyes.

 _Barred from Atlantis._ Barred from the first person to ever love him. The first person to ever encourage him. The first person to ever believe in him.

Atlantis closed his eyes. His head fell forward. His shoulders shook. But he did not cry. He was a soldier. A hero. A leader. He would not _cry._ No matter how much he wanted to.

"Kaldur'ahm," said Aquaman, sighing. "I am terribly sorry for this." He pressed a hand to Kaldur's shoulder. His words were a warm murmur in Kaldur's ear.

"I do not understand," whispered Kaldur. He looked up at Aquaman. "Did not your words tell them that the barring me from the ocean was too drastic?"

Aquaman closed his eyes and bowed his head. Even when he opened his eyes again, he did not look at Kaldur. He stared resolutely at the wall over Kaldur's shoulder, his eyes downcast and his shoulders pulled close.

"I did not contest the order," said Aquaman. The words slammed into Kaldur with the power of a train. He shrugged off Aquaman's arm. Stumbled as he got back to his feet. He stared at Aquaman with wide eyes and parted lips.

"Why not?"

Aquaman stood. His eyes were soft and so was his tone. His words were anything but.

"I believe this to be fair," he said.

Kaldur swallowed hard against the lump in his throat. A burn started in his stomach and worked its way up to his throat and into his cheeks. The heat erupted across his body and pooled in his mouth. His eyes narrowed. His hands clenched into fists. A low growl spilled from his throat.

"You believe I deserve exile?" said Kaldur in a low voice. He felt the steel creep into his tongue and eyes as he spoke. "You believe I deserve a fate worse than death?" He bared his teeth. His face tugged into a snarl.

"Kaldur'ahm," started Aquaman, but Kaldur cut him off.

"No." His voice was sharp. His words harsh and cold. "If you believe I deserve this, than you are not better than them. And I will have nothing to do with you until _after_ my trial." He turned to leave the room, then paused at the door to say one last night.

"That is, of course, assuming Atlantis doesn't have me executed." A cruel smile curled Kaldur's lips. "Not that you'd contest that, either." Kaldur turned and left just as Aquaman's expression finally broke.

Kaldur stalked down the halls of the Watchtower and burst into the training room. Lightning pulsed behind his eyes and beneath his fingertips. With a scream, he threw a punch at the punching bag hanging from the ceiling. Lightning ripped across it, bursting the bag at the seams. The chain broke. The bag slammed into the wall, twenty feet back.

Kaldur spun. Blew lightning at the targets on the wall. Each burst turned the target to smoke and scorched metal. Kaldur screamed again and ripped his water bearers from his back and formed the water in his pouch into swords.

He lunged at the training dummies. An uppercut ripped through the chest of one. A spinning kick took its head off. Another cut. Another slice. Sweat poured down his face. He screamed and he cut and he screamed again. Tearing through the dummies until they were nothing but fractured bits of synthetic body parts.

He stood at the centre of the room – shoulders heaving, hands shaking, body coated in sweat, and tears in his eyes.

The door to the training room opened. Gar stood in the entrance.

"Kaldur?" he said. His voice impossibly small in the vast space. "Are you okay? I heard shouting and fighting."

Kaldur looked at the destruction around him. Took in the wild look of himself in one of the broken mirrors on the wall. He stood straight, tucked his water bearers back into their sheaths, and swallowed hard.

"Fine," he said, tightly. Before Gar could question his words, Kaldur stalked to the entrance, pushed passed Gar, and headed for the Zeta-Beams.

He needed a fight. He wouldn't get one here.

* * *

 _Gotham. August 24_ _th_ _, 17:02 EDT_

Nightwing rested on his heels atop the building, his elbows draped across his knees and a pair of binoculars pressed to his mask. He lifted one hand from the binoculars to scrub through his hair – wild, unruly, and getting longer by the day.

Through his binoculars, he could see the guard change in STAR Labs of Gotham. The layout, long since memorized, played out behind his eyes. He could see himself darting between cameras, disabling guards, and getting into the main lab in less than two minutes. From there, it would be a simple matter of grabbing the information he needed and taking off.

Nightwing licked his lips. The information was so close he could feel the _ache_ in his fingers. He burned with the need to get STAR Labs' classified information on Zeta-Beams and transportation technology.

And yet, despite knowing all that, he didn't move. Nightwing wanted to tell himself he had no idea why he didn't move, but he did. He knew exactly why he'd been scouting this building for the last four hours. Why, despite knowing everything about the guard layout and security system, he still hadn't moved. Why his minimal shifts had left his limbs stiff.

Because, despite wanting this information more than anything else, he knew it would be stealing. And, no matter what else he'd done in the last few months, he'd yet to cross that line. He'd yet to break into a building and take something that wasn't his. Sure, the temptation had been there, over and over again, but he hadn't. It was something he prided himself on. It was a form of self-control, one he came closer to breaking each and every day.

Nightwing stood and scrubbed a hand over his face. The wind whipped at him, cutting through the summer version of his Nightwing suit and yanking at his hair. He dropped the binoculars into the bag at his feet and scowled.

He had no leads. No information. Nothing. His only hope was in that building.

Nightwing swallowed. It was now or never.

"Nightwing." Years of training kept Nightwing from jumping at the sudden gravelly voice behind him, but it was a near thing. Instead, he masked his surprise with a long-suffering sigh and a dramatic turn.

Sure enough, Batman stood in the shadow on the roof, his tinted lenses glowing faintly. Batman stepped forward, scowling, and looked over Nightwing's shoulder at STAR Labs. Despite their distance from each other – Nightwing would guess twenty feet – he could read Batman perfectly.

He knew what Nightwing had been about to do. That's why he had spoken.

Nightwing found the urge to drop his head like a berated child.

"What do you want?" asked Nightwing, letting every ounce of his annoyance bleed into his tone. He folded his arms across his chest – defensive, but effective – and mirrored Batman's scowl with one of his own.

"What are you doing in Gotham?" asked Batman. A question for a question. Nightwing fought the urge to snort. Typical Bruce.

"You mean you don't know?" asked Nightwing, mockingly. He grinned, all teeth. "And here I thought you knew everything."

"I understand you're upset-" started Batman.

Nightwing cut him off with a sharp laugh. "Upset? I have no idea what you're talking about." He took a step back and tossed his arms into the air. "What do I have to be upset about Bats? That my best friend is dead and I never got to make up with him? That all my leads have led to dead ends and I have spent the last two months chasing _nothing_? Or maybe-" His grin came back in full force. All sharp teeth and wild, hidden eyes. His body hummed, vibrating even as he bounced back onto the ledge of the roof. "-maybe I'm upset because no one believes me."

Batman sighed, almost inaudibly, and shook his head. "Nightwing." And there it was, the 'I'm disappointed in you, but I'm going to hide it' voice. It was one Nightwing had heard a lot as a teenager.

"Don't you start," said Nightwing sharply. "You think I don't listen to what you're up to? You're chasing ghosts. You have _no right_ to judge me." He blinked hard against the sudden tears in his eyes. God, he must have been tired to be near tears.

"I'm not judging," said Batman. "I'm trying to understand."

"What's there to understand?" shouted Nightwing, throwing his arms wide. "Wally's not dead, but everyone thinks he is. I'm going to find him, no matter what it takes."

"This is going to kill you," snapped Batman.

Nightwing shrugged and folded his arms again. "So be it."

"Do you even hear yourself?" asked Batman, walking forward. "You're running yourself ragged looking for a man that no longer exists." He stopped about ten feet from Nightwing. "He's dead, Dick, you need to deal with that. You're going further down this road than Roy ever did."

Nightwing flinched at the use of his first name. He came back quickly though. "Yeah, and look what happened – Roy was _right_. His original was alive, _Bruce_." He turned his mentor's name into a sneer. Caught the way Batman went taunt at the word.

"But he didn't do it alone," said Batman. "He had help. And you can't do this alone either. Let me help you. You can rest, get back on your feet. Then we can work together to find out what happened in the Arctic."

And god, the idea of rest was tempting, but Nightwing knew he couldn't stop. He didn't _deserve_ to stop, not after all the pain he'd put his friends and family through. Not after what he'd done to Artemis and Wally. "No," said Nightwing, stepping back. "I don't want your help. I don't _need_ it. Leave me alone."

He turned to leap off the roof, only for two figures to leap onto it. They came over him in a clean, synchronized arc. The two touched down between Batman and Nightwing. A man and a girl – probably a teenager, just a few years younger than Nightwing.

The man was dressed in orange and black with only one eye hole cut out of his mask. His ponytail was gone, but Nightwing recognized him nonetheless.

" _Slade_ ," growled Nightwing, drawing his eskrima sticks. The girl next to Slade, dressed in black and chainmail with a cowl over her face, smiled. Her long silver hair was pulled back into a thin ponytail.

"See Daddy, I told you he was here," she said.

Slade chuckled. "And the Batman too, nicely done Rose."

"It's Ravager, Daddy," she said, drawing her sword and dropping into a ready stance, her eyes still on Nightwing.

Nightwing cocked an eyebrow as he shifted into a defensive stance. His raised his arms to block any potential blows and slid one foot backward. "Daddy?" he echoed. "Didn't know you were into that kind of thing."

Ravager snarled and lunged at Nightwing. He side-stepped the first attack, but stumbled on the second. Brought up an eskrima stick at the last second to catch the blade. The two hit hard, bringing up sparks in a great shriek of metal. He knocked the sword to the side, but not before Ravager got to wrench his elbow inward from her blow.

"I'm his actual daughter, unlike you and Batman," said Ravager. Her voice was barbed wire coated in honey. Her sneer somewhere between taunting and mocking. His elbow throbbed. He ignored it.

"Now there's an insult I haven't heard in awhile," quipped Nightwing. He tried to keep his tone light, despite his trepidation. She was fast. Strong. He'd need his wits about him for this fight. Nightwing swallowed. His gaze went to Slade. There was no way he could take them both – especially not as tired as he was.

"Take the boy," said Slade. "I'll handle Batman." _Boy?_ Nightwing fought the urge to growl. He was no _boy_.

But then Ravager was coming at him, and Nightwing couldn't think about anything else.

She came hard and fast with an undercut of her sword. He jumped backward, throwing up his eskrima sticks into a wide arc. Neither one hit her. He hadn't expected them to.

She drove him backward toward the ledge. All cuts fast and hard. She aimed to kill. A cut to the left. Then the right. A downward slicing arc. Nightwing brought up his sticks. Blocked the sword. Felt his knee tremble and struggled to stay upright.

His vision spotted as he jumped backward. He pulled a wing-ding from his belt – his new version of birdarangs – and tossed it at her. She blocked it – sent it spinning into the roof – and came again.

Nightwing fought just to stay upright. Fought just to keep himself from falling over. Exhaustion quickly took his limbs. He didn't bother with any fancy acrobatics. He couldn't. Even a singular moment of weakness and Ravager would destroy him.

"Duck!" Batman's voice. Instinct made Nightwing's body obey before his mind even processed the words. Deathstroke's sword slided the air where his head had been.

Both of them? _Perfect_. He needed to get out of here.

He jumped, chanced a flip over Ravager and blocked the sword as it came at him. He landed next to Batman. Batman pulled out a pair of batarangs and grit his teeth. Nightwing raised his eskrima sticks.

"We need to work together," said Batman.

Nightwing could barely breathe. "After you nearly let him kill me? Don't think so."

Slade chuckled as he and Ravager approached. "Trouble in paradise?" he cooed. Nightwing fought the urge to step forward and clock the man. It wouldn't have worked anyway.

This time, the two came at Nightwing and Batman in perfect harmony. Their swords and bodies were a single entity. Their strikes perfectly timed with each other. One strike would come just after the other, creating a flurry of metal and wind that forced Batman and Nightwing into a retreat.

Slade and Ravager backed Nightwing and Batman to the edge of the roof. Ravager's blade connected, sliding at Nightwing's shoulder. He cried out, blood pouring from the wound. She cut and cut again, destroying his uniform as she drove him back.

Then, Batman tossed down a smoke bomb. The world went dark. Nightwing switched his lenses to thermal.

He and Batman dove off the roof and took off in opposite directions. Nightwing ran and ran and ran, heedless of the pain in his hip, his shoulder, and across his left leg. He grappled to a roof and finally collapsed.

Slade, Ravager, and Batman were nowhere to be seen. Nightwing leaned forward, resting his hands on the brick wall of the roof access and hanging his head.

He pulled back with one hand and slammed the palm back into the brick.

"The _fuck_ was that?" he hissed. He gritted his teeth and growled. " _Fuck_." He'd lost his chance to get into STAR Labs, and, judging by what Ravager had said, she'd been tracking him. He wouldn't get another chance at that building in the near future. Another lead gone. Another dead end found.

And Batman was just as disappointed in Nightwing as Nightwing was in himself. And he didn't believe Dick. No one did.

And who was Ravager? There were too many questions to be answered, too many things to look into.

Nightwing caught red in his peripheral vision. His shoulder had clotted. He grimaced and mentally added "get a new uniform" to his long to-do list.

It had been a long night. All he wanted to do was rest. But there was still more to check. More to research. More to discover.

Steeling himself, Nightwing straightened, and grappled off to his next destination.

* * *

 _Barbados. August 24_ _th_ _, 18:16 AST_

The drop point into Barbados was over part of the rainforest that covered the island Bane was working on. The plane, impossibly silent and cloaked for stealth, hovered obediently while Conner gave out orders before they headed into enemy territory.

"Everyone stick together, I don't want any solo artists here tonight. Splitting up against enemies this powerful is never a good idea, and even less of one when we don't know what we're going up against. I'll take point, Kid Flash, scout ahead, but stay in sight and stay silent. No more than fifty feet at a time – less in the trees." Kid Flash nodded, his lips pressed together in a serious line. "Robin, Static, at my side. Especially you, Static."

"Because I'm a rookie?" guessed Static. He didn't sound annoyed, just curious.

Conner shook his head. "No, because if we're going to save these guys, we're going to need to work in the dark. Got it?" Static's eyes sparked with sudden understanding. He nodded.

"All right. Communicators on. Line of sight. Let's move out." With that, the back end of the stealth plane opened and the four zip-lined down to the surface. They touched down silently, retracted the lines, and then headed through the forest.

The foliage was so thick Conner relied more on his thermal vision than anything else. He pushed through branches and bushes so lush that each nudge sent bugs scurrying into the dirt. He grimaced. Bugs didn't bother him that much, but anything bigger would give them away.

The others weren't doing amazing either, if Conner was honest. Cassie and La'gaan could handle the humidity of Barbados, and the heat was nothing to Artemis. But the humidity was already weighing down Static, who kept blinking hard behind the white domino mask he'd donned. And the heat seemed to drag at Kid Flash, who stumbled once or twice while scouting.

Robin was the only one not noticeably suffering, but Conner's ears told him the boy's heartbeat was accelerated. Whether from fear or exertion, though, he couldn't tell.

Together, however, the four picked their way through the bushes and the trees. They climbed over fallen logs and stepped around rocks and other tripping hazards. They slugged through the mud – and Conner was grateful he'd reminded everyone to wear their all-weather boots before getting on the plane – and they made their way stealthily through the forest.

Truthfully, Conner was a little bit proud of how well they were doing, but he wasn't going to admit that. Not because he didn't believe in giving compliments, but because every time someone said a mission was going well, it went to hell very shortly after. He wasn't going to jinx it. When they got out of this – when, not _if_ – he'd be sure to tell everyone how well they did.

Kid Flash zoomed to Conner's side, interrupting his thoughts. "I spotted the factory," he said, his voice high and reedy from oxygen deprivation. The humidity must have been getting to him too. "Now what?"

Static and Robin looked to Conner as well.

"We need to get at the main power supply," said Conner. "Then we also need a direct line of sight into the building. If we can do both at once, all the better."

"Still don't think we should spread out?" asked Robin, there was a touch of doubt in his voice.

Conner shook his head. "We stick together," he said, firmly. "No man – or woman – left behind."

He led the way as the four circled through the trees around the factory – glimpsed now and then through the spaces between the trees and their thick, unyielding leaves. Within minutes, Beta Squad had circled around to the power generator of the factory, kept in a small, separate building.

"Why is it separate from the others?" asked Kid Flash. Conner squinted, switching back to thermal vision to see if there were any guards around the building.

"Overloads," said Static. "If something happens in the building, you don't risk the generator, and if something happens to the generator, you don't risk the building."

"Oh," said Kid Flash. "Smart."

Conner clicked his tongue. "Well it is Bane, he's pretty intelligent when he wants to be."

"He's creating monstrous amalgamations of man and beast for unknown nefarious purposes," said Kid Flash.

The others stared at him. "Did you swallow a dictionary?" asked Static.

"Nah, just got bored." KF shrugged.

"Right," said Conner. "Let's move out. Robin, get me eyes on the building – but stay in sight. I want to know what the reaction is when we kill these lights."

Robin nodded. "Right." He leaped out of the trees and flipped up onto the small generator building. Then, using his momentum, he jumped, caught a pipe running up the side of the building. He hauled himself up onto a window ledge.

Conner, Static, and Kid Flash came out of the trees and headed for the door to the generator building. Conner waited, listening for Robin.

"I see Bane and a dozen Splice guys," said Robin over the com. "And…" He sucked in a breath. "Holy… I see the guys! Alpha Squad." Conner could hear the grin in Robin's voice.

He nodded. "Good work," he said over the coms. "Can you signal them?" His gaze went up to Robin, partially obscured by the building they were hiding behind.

"Yeah, I think so," said Robin. He pulled out a birdarang and used it to jimmy open the window. Then he shot something into the room. "Got it! Cassie saw me."

"Can you send her a message?" asked Conner.

"Yup," said Robin.

Conner exhaled slowly. It was all coming together now. "Tell her we're going to kill the lights and come in after them."

There was a long moment of silence. Then, "She says to be careful… something about a cat and a crocodile?"

Conner frowned. "She must be talking about specific Splices. Probably just Bane's right hands. We can take them. All the Splices are mindless because of the Venom anyway." He looked to Static and nodded. "Kill the lights."

Static's hands lit up, illuminating his dark eyes for a moment. He shoved open the door to the generator building and stuck a hand to the generator. There was a faint buzzing, a flash of light from within the building, and then all the lights went out.

"Switch to night vision," said Conner. He switched to his own thermal vision. He could see the others moving. Robin and KF changed the view on their lenses, while Static actually had to put on night vision goggles. Conner had a collapsible pair in his pocket, but he wouldn't be needing them.

"Alright, everyone in the window. Let's do this fast."

Together, the three climbed the generator building and got up to the ledge Robin was on. In the meantime, Robin popped the window completely open and climbed in. Conner, Static, and Kid Flash followed after him.

Inside, Conner found himself on a balcony. Heat signatures all around him betrayed how the rest of the building looked. He let his visions shift and blur together, which let him pick out the other bits of the landscape. An assembly line, not unlike the one he and Cassie had destroyed together, made up most of the floor. A dozen Splice guards walked between the lines of machinery, which were now dark. They all had their weapons drawn, some of them obviously peering through the dark with their own, chemically-gotten, version of night vision.

Conner nodded to the three beside him and gestured with a few fingers. Robin and KF took off in one direction, while Static stayed with him.

"What now?" hissed Static. A few heads swung toward them.

Conner smirked. "Put a shock in their systems." Even with his thermal vision, he could see Static grinning.

Lightning crackled between his fingertips, lighting up the walkway they stood on. Creatures swung toward them. Someone shouted for gun fire. Weapons raised. Triggers were touched.

Lightning shot from Static's fingertips, tearing apart the guns before they could be used against the four. The lightning continued, blowing up parts of the assembly line and throwing three of the Splice creatures across the room.

A shout. "Get them!" It was Bane. Several of the Splice guards obeyed, but several others were too busy trying to keep control of the now-struggling Alpha Squad. Cassie lifted herself off the ground several inches and slammed into one of the creatures.

"Robin, get them some goggles," shouted Conner. "Kid Flash, watch his back."

Conner grabbed the bar of the walkway and said, "Static, with me." Then he leaped off the walkway and touched down on the factory floor. He rose from his crouch with a wild grin on his face. Punched one fist into his open palm.

The Splice creatures charged.

Conner side-stepped the first one. Drew back and slammed a fist into the second. He stepped forward into the next one, caught it by the sides of its furry face and tossed it into the line of crates against one wall. A flash of red and orange in this thermal vision betrayed one sneaking up on him. Its scent hit him a moment later. Rot and blood and something more he didn't want to think about. It lunged.

Conner leaped into the air and jumped on its back. Another grabbed at him as he came down. It wrapped its arms around him and shoved him forward. Conner took a knee. He threw his head back and slammed it into the Splice's face. The creature snarled. Blood gushed from its muzzle and spilled across Conner's neck and left cheek.

He kicked the creature in the knee, hooked an ankle as it buckled and slammed it onto its back. From the corner of his eye, he could see Robin setting free Alpha Squad and giving them night vision goggles. The blur of bright red nearby was KF, taking down Splices as needed. Another approached. KF didn't move.

Conner grabbed the next Splice that came at him and threw it over his shoulder. The creature slammed into the Splice headed for KF just before it grabbed him. Both went tumbling to the ground. KF turned and gave Conner a thumb's up, then zipped off to take down the rest of them.

To his right, Static was taking care of the last two Splice creatures with his lightning. Conner had been right about putting a shock to the creatures, a zap from Static had the things on the ground either screaming or unconscious. Static didn't seem particularly bothered either way.

"You good?" called Conner.

"Yeah," said Static. "I just pretend they're zombies, then it doesn't bug me." Conner grinned. That was a good method. He'd have to tell that to Gar.

"Where's Bane?" asked Robin, coming over to the Conner. It looked like there were no more creatures to take down.

"And Cheetah and Killer Croc," added Wonder Girl. Beta Squad turned and stared at Wonder Girl.

"Wait, that' what you meant?" asked Robin.

Conner grimaced. "Shit," he hissed. "He probably went to get them." He scrubbed a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. "All right, new plan." He looked at Robin. "Set every charge you have. We're blowing this place and getting the hell out of here."

"How?" asked Tigress. "They'll have destroyed our boat by now."

"We have a stealth plane," said Conner.

Wonder Girl blinked. "We have a stealth plane?" she asked. "Since when do we have a stealth plane?"

"Since this morning," said Static.

Robin and KF zipped off a second later, setting charges everywhere they could. Conner hit the button on his belt to call the plane to the factory. It would only take a minute.

Behind them, a second door to the factory swung open, revealing three figures – two of which were very animalistic looking.

"Hello heroes," purred Cheetah. And it was an honest to god purr.

Robin and KF dropped down behind Conner.

"It's done," said Robin.

"Run," hissed Conner.

The eight heroes took off for the entrance as fast as they could, putting distance between them and the trio of villains behind them. Cheetah gave chase, but it seemed she heard the same thing Conner did. The charges were gearing up to explode.

The heroes got clear of the building and bolted into the plane. It took off just as the building blew, barely shielding them from the powerful explosion.

Inside the plane, they rose higher and higher, watching the building burn.

"Do you think we killed them?" asked Kid Flash.

Conner snorted. "We're not that lucky."

"Conner!" said Karen, sounding scandalized.

Conner sighed. He was not in the mood to discuss morals with other heroes, especially those who hadn't fought Bane to nearly the death in the past. "Let's talk about this later," he said. "We need to consolidate information and debrief with Kaldur. If Bane is working with Cheetah and Killer Croc, then this is about more than moving drugs. We need to find out what's going on before he hurts more people and turns them into his personal lackies."

"…So we just killed those people didn't we?" asked Static, sounding faint.

Conner hesitated. Then, "I don't know." And he didn't. None of them did. And, what was worse, was that he wasn't sure he cared.


	7. Electrical Discharge

**Author's Note:** Guess who's back! Yes, that's right folk, this fic is **not** dead. I had a lot of trouble with it, tore apart most of the plot and rebuilt it from chapter 12 onward, but I finally did it and got my enthusiasm back! Now, I can't guarantee how often I will update, but I will basically be posting every time I write a chapter. And, seeing as how I no longer am struggling with the story, it should be roughly bi or tri weekly.

Anyway, in celebration, why not leave a review? Both reviews and constructive feedback are welcome, so have at!

* * *

 **Chapter Seven: Electrical Discharge**

 _Watchtower. August 27_ _th_ _, 13:00 EDT_

For the second time that month, the core members of the Justice League gathered around the Watchtower meeting table. This time, Kaldur joined them. He sat in Batman's usual seat, as Batman himself was missing.

"A week ago, the Watchtower began picking up signals from deep space," said Kaldur. A floating, holographic image of the signal appeared in the middle of the table. "Hal Jordan and I have spent the past several days attempting to decrypt the signals, and last night, our goal was obtained."

Hal said, "Right, as far as we can tell, these signals are the exact same ones the War World put out. We don't know why they're being put out, but they are, and we're picking them up on radar."

"Does that mean we can track the War World?" asked Superman.

Hal nodded. "We already have," he said. "Kaldur and I pinned it somewhere in this sector." The holographic image switched to a star map. "There's no Lanterns in the vicinity, it's not well populated enough."

"The only way we can know for certain what the War World is up to is if we send a team to investigate," said Kaldur. The Justice League glanced at each other. This was the hardest part to sell, and the main reason Kaldur had wanted Hal up on the Watchtower with him while he was giving this presentation.

"We just got back," protested Superman. "We can't leave again, Earth needs us."

"Earth needs to know that the War World will never pose a threat to it again," said Hal, firmly. He folded his arms. "We send a team out, we find the War World, and we come back. Simple."

Superman continued to scowl.

"Look, if you don't like it, don't sign up to go," said Hal. "This isn't a dictatorship, this is a democracy, but we can't leave the War World out there, not knowing what it's doing. So we go out, we find it, we bring the intel back here, and we come up with a plan." Hal scowled back. "Or is that too much like grunt work, for you?"

Superman levelled a sharp look at Hal. Kaldur glanced between the two men with more than a touch of trepidation. "If the idea is not an acceptable one…," he started.

"It's fine," said both Hal and Superman in unison, not looking away from each other.

"Metropolis needs me, I'm not going," said Superman.

Hal snorted. "Fine by me, pal."

"Hal." There was a warning in Barry's voice, one that made it perfectly clear how he felt about this entire situation.

"Hey, he started it," protested Hal.

"That's enough," said Black Canary, sighing. Kaldur remained silent through all of this, his hands clasped in his lip. He hadn't expected the League to be so… disjointed. In many ways, they were are argumentative as the Team was prone to being. More so, perhaps, because they didn't spend nearly as much time with each other.

"We're taking a team into space, it's a good idea," said Black Canary, firmly.

"Agreed," said Captain Atom. "Who should we send?"

"Kaldur and I figured that out too," said Hal, cutting back into the conversation. "Kaldur?"

With all eyes on him, Kaldur squared his shoulders and sat up as straight as he could in the high-backed seat. "Green Lantern and I have determined the best team to find, and infiltrate, the War World based on our previous encounters with the weapon." He pressed a finger to the table, bringing up the images of several League members. "Captain Atom, John Stewart, Hawkwoman, and Icon. If Hawkman wishes to stay with Hawkwoman that would also work to our advantage."

"That's a good team," said Black Canary. "Strength and stealth. Nicely done, Kaldur." Kaldur nodded. "How do you all feel about this?"

The team that Kaldur had chosen nodded in agreement, even Hawkman, usually so eager to pick a fight, simply nodded and scooted a bit closer to his wife.

"All right," said Black Canary. "You will all leave as soon as possible. Hal, can you get all the coordinates you have to John?"

"Sure thing," said Hal.

Black Canary nodded. "Then this meeting is over. Dismissed." The League got up and separated at that, some of them leaving, some of them staying to say goodbye to the War World team.

Hal clapped Kaldur on the shoulder and said, "Good work. They all like your plan."

"Let us hope it works," said Kaldur, his voice soft.

Hal grinned. "It will. Have a little faith in yourself. You do good work." Hal slung an arm around Kaldur's shoulders and guided him toward the kitchen. "Now, let's get something to eat before I make sure John doesn't get everyone killed out there, yeah?"

Kaldur just barely managed to keep himself from laughing, but he still smiled. Hal stopping John? Typically it was the other way around, if memory served.

"Hey, there's a smile!" said Hal, cheerfully. "Was starting to think you didn't know how to do that."

"Apologies," said Kaldur.

Hal waved him off with his free arm as they walked. "Don't worry about it. Hey, do you eat seafood? Or are you a Little Mermaid kind of deal? You know what, don't worry about that either. I'll whip us up something."

Kaldur watched as Hal bustled around the kitchen, only half listening to the Lantern's ramblings. He couldn't help but feel… almost peaceful. It was an odd sensation, one he thought Hal had probably planned. But he found he didn't mind. It was nice to be able to relax, even if only for a single meal.

* * *

 _Somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. August 27_ _th_ _, 13:16 PDT_

Alpha Squad moved quietly through the cave system within the Rocky Mountains. They'd received a call several hours ago informing them that Intergang was working within the system through the use of Boom Tubes. "Anonymous tip", Kaldur had said, but he'd had an odd look on his face when he'd relayed the message to Tigress and her team. It was someone he knew, then.

Which… didn't narrow it down, exactly.

With a sigh, Tigress rubbed at her eyes. The night vision in her mask made her eyes bug out after a while, and, judging by the way the others were twitching, they were dealing with a similar situation. Static, in particular, seeing as he probably hadn't worn them before.

"Any luck?" asked Tigress. The com link was rubbing in her ear again. She was grateful not to have to use it at this moment, but having to use it at all was incredibly frustrating.

 _God_ she missed M'gann. It would be incredible to have her back… whenever that was. And not just for the psychic link, but also for the companionship. M'gann was her closest friend, and Tigress missed her dearly.

Plus, if M'gann was here, then she'd stand a chance at getting Kaldur to open up. Tigress had seen his mind when they'd put him back together. She knew everything about him now. And she _knew_ he was in mourning, just as the rest of them were. She _knew_ he was probably terrified of leading this team. And she _knew_ that he would never talk to anyone about it – not even Black Canary, even though she had enforced biweekly sessions with him since he'd gotten back.

He was a stubborn idiot, to put it lightly, but that was beside the point. The point, right now, was that they were in a cave system, in the middle of British Columbia, looking for Intergang. And that her team – Static, Wonder Girl, and Beast Boy – were looking at her like she'd lost her mind.

"What?" snapped Tigress. They all went back to searching for an entrance into the Intergang portion of the caves. Damn tip. Couldn't it have been a bit more specific?

"Found it!" called Beast Boy, morphing back into his regular form. Tigress wasn't sure what he'd been before that moment. She hadn't really been paying attention.

She and the others headed over to Beast Boy, who pointed to the vent system that went straight down. It was decently hidden behind a series of rocks, but a few of them had been pushed aside. Maybe, Tigress thought, that anonymous tipper, whoever it was, had done them a favour after all.

But she didn't count on it.

"All right," said Tigress, her voice gruff. "Let's get to work."

Wonder Girl pulled the grate from the ventilation system and Beast Boy changed into a lizard and clambered down into it. There were a few seconds of silence, in which Tigress tried not to fidget from her own impatience. Then, Beast Boy clambered back up and shifted back into his usual form.

"All clear," he said.

"Everyone in," said Tigress. "Beast Boy, lead the way."

He gave Tigress a salute, leaped into the air, and transformed back into a small lizard. Then he was climbing down the side of the vents. Static, Wonder Girl, and Tigress followed after him, in that order. Tigress climbed down the vent, hands and feet splayed as she climbed down.

At the bottom of the vent, they all dropped out and fell a good ten feet to the rocky ground below. Tigress landed in a crouch and drew herself up slowly.

"Spread out, find them. Keep on the coms," said Tigress. She headed toward one of the tunnels and slid through it, careful to keep her back to the wall and one hand on the blade at her hip.

She tapped the com link in her ear to ask the others what they found, only to be met with static.

 _Perfect_. The cave was knocking out the signal. They were too deep down to bounce off the satellites. This was shaping up to be a fantastic mission.

Tigress kept moving, silently cursing the coms and vowing to circle back around to the others soon enough. As she moved, she heard a few sounds echoing from down the long expanse of cave. Tigress paused and cocked her head to one side, listening in. Two voices, one higher, one lower, their words sharp but indistinguishable.

She crept forward, careful to keep her back to the wall and check over her shoulder every few seconds. Within a minute, her little cave opened up into a larger expanse, revealing an area full of stolen technology, strange portals that were probably modified Boom Tubes, and most of Intergang.

Tigress bristled. Her gaze went to Ugly and Whisper, who were arguing, somewhat loudly, about the state of their cave. Last Tigress had heard, these two couldn't feed themselves, let alone run Intergang. What had changed?

"We need to get out of here, before someone catches us," Whisper was saying.

"We're fine, girly, stop yer worrying," said Ugly.

Whisper scowled. "I'm not worried, I'm cautious," snapped Whisper. "Remember what happened last time?" Ugly bristled at her words and said nothing.

Tigress crept a little closer and pulled out one of her swords. She wondered, idly, if she could take on them all without backup. But she wasn't a ranged fighter anymore, she'd have to get into the battle in order to fight properly. That would mean opening herself up to surprise attacks and gunfire.

Returning her sword to its sheath on her back, Tigress crept back through the cave and toward her team.

"Alpha Squad," she hissed. "Can any of you hear me?" The coms were still static. Tigress growled. Now was _so_ not the time for this. She kept moving, quickly now, in hopes of finding one of her team members.

Through the twists and turns of the cave, she eventually stumbled into Static, who was scowling at his own com, stuck in his hand.

"Static," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. He looked up, stuffed the com back in his ear, and grinned at her.

"Tigress, what's up?" he asked.

Tigress jerked her head behind her. "Intergang down in the tunnels. Lot of Apokolips tech, not just Boom Tubes. We need the others if we're going to drop them."

"Awesome," said Static. "You know what's up with the coms?"

She shook her head. "Far as I can tell, it's the cave."

"That happen often?" asked Static, frowning.

"Dunno," said Tigress. "Usually we have M'gann for missions like this."

Static nodded. "Should we find the others?"

"Let's," said Tigress.

The two moved through the cave together, checking side tunnels, around corners, and peering into openings whenever they had a chance. It took a while, but eventually they found Wonder Girl and Beast Boy, who had apparently been scoping out the cave together.

"We figured it was safer," said Wonder Girl. "'Cause the coms weren't working. What if we needed back up?"

Tigress bit the inside of her cheek. Wonder Girl was right. That _was_ a good idea. Pity she hadn't thought of it first.

"All right," said Tigress, her voice rough and low. "Follow me, I know where their base is. We take them out together and then we're sending their stuff to Star Labs in Taos, got it?"

"Got it," said the others.

Tigress led them down the cave, trying not to worry about the fact that she had a squad full of junior members of the Team. Obviously they were all good at what they did, but how good were they in a fire fight? Tigress hadn't even seen Static in action yet, and Wonder Girl and Beast Boy didn't have good track records outside of working with senior members.

Which, Tigress supposed, _she_ was. But she tended not to think of it that way. After all, she'd only rejoined when… Well. _When._

As they reached the opening where Intergang was, the sounds of Ugly shouting orders became clearer and clearer. Tigress glanced over her shoulder at Alpha Squad, who all stared back at her with big eyes. Static had adopted a white domino mask as part of his uniform recently, making his eyes eerily pale, but they stared at her all the same.

"All right," said Tigress, thinking quickly. "Wonder Girl, Beast Boy, you go high. Get the drop on their big guns and take them out. Static, stay out of range and shoot Ugly and Whisper. Once you've gotten them down, stay at the edges and shoot out their weapons. I'll go in for melee – don't hit me." The last part was added as an afterthought. "Everyone ready?" They all nodded. "Let's go."

The four split off. Wonder Girl flew up into the air and Beast Boy transformed into a hawk and flew after her. Static swung around the edges, lightning already crackling at his fingertips. Tigress darted into the cave, whistling sharply to draw Intergang's attention.

Immediately, all eyes were on her. She leaped into the air, pulled out her sword as she somersaulted, and came down hard. One gun split down the centre. She spun, kicked, knocked one guy into another. Both hit the wall. The two large guns on the sides shattered as massive rocks were dropped onto one of them and a green elephant dropped on the other.

"Get her!" screamed Ugly. Lightning leaped passed Tigress and slammed into Ugly's side. Whisper got hit next. Static's following cackle made Tigress freeze for half a second. He sounded far too much like Robin, back when…

"Tigress look out!" Beast Boy's shout jerked her out of memory lane. One of the goons shot. She spun, got grazed in the side. Grabbed at the wound and hissed.

"Tigress!" said Wonder Girl, her voice full of worry.

"I'm fine," Tigress managed. She hissed and got back to her feet. Grabbed the sword with both hands and leaped.

It was a flurry of motion and pain and noise in the cave. One by one the goons and their weapons fell. One by one the guns were destroyed and the shouting and fighting grew smaller and smaller. Until, finally, it was the four members of Alpha Squad, standing in the cave with only the sound of their breathing to keep them company. Around them, the unconscious bodies of Intergang lay.

Tigress felt the pain explode from her side as the adrenaline faded. She locked her knees to keep herself from falling over and limped over to one of the Father Boxes.

"Taos, Star Labs," she said to the box. The boom tube opened in front of her.

"Get everything in," said Tigress. "They'll be expecting us."

"What about you?" asked Wonder Girl. Tigress leaned hard against one of the crates. The smell of blood was thick around her. Her vision spotted.

"I'll be fine," said Tigress. She'd get medical help later, when this was over. Maybe. "Start hauling."

They obeyed, but Tigress couldn't quite ignore the worry in their eyes, or the hesitation in Wonder Girl's movements every time Tigress betrayed a small amount of the pain she was in.

* * *

 _Star City. August 28_ _th_ _, 16:16 PDT_

Roy was drying dishes when Jade appeared on the fire escape. He sighed, set down the dish towel, and opened the window for her. She was alone – Lian was in the crib in Roy's bedroom – and she was in civvies. A rare occurrence.

"Hey," said Roy.

"Hi," said Jade. An awkward silence filled the room for a few seconds.

"You want coffee?" asked Roy.

Jade nodded and padded, silently, into Roy's bedroom.

"Shoes!" called Roy, even though he knew it was a useless endeavour. But then, maybe it wasn't, because he saw Jade walk out of his room, toe off her shoes, and kick them toward the door. Then she was gone again. Roy blinked.

Huh. That was new.

He returned to drying and putting away his dishes, humming along to the classic rock music that piped quietly out of his countertop stereo. Before long, he had them put away, and he took two of the clean mugs for coffee. Jade got two sugars, he got milk and one. It used to be cream, but cream was too expensive when he didn't use it all before it went sour.

He padded into the bedroom in his sock feet and paused at the door. Jade was leaning over the crib, smiling and cooing at Lian. His baby girl was giggling and reaching up toward her mum, arms waving and mouth split open in a wide smile.

"Her hair's getting darker," said Jade. Roy nodded. He handed her the coffee, which she took a deep sip from.

"Yeah, probably be black before the year's out," said Roy. Lian's hair was a dark brown at this point, having long lost the red of her father. It made sense – babies had lighter hair, anyway.

"Too bad, I liked the red," said Jade. Her gaze went to Roy and it was surprisingly soft. He coughed, a little uncomfortable with such a gaze.

Jade sighed and straightened up properly, shifting the cup to hold it with both hands.

"Can we talk?" asked Jade. Her gaze went to Lian. "Privately?"

Roy nodded and gestured toward the door. "Living room?" he offered. Jade nodded and slipped past him, frowning slightly. Roy frowned as well as he followed after her, leaving the door open in case Lian needed them.

"What's going on?" asked Roy. Jade leaned against the back of his couch and frowned. Roy leaned against his kitchen counter. The space between them was maybe twelve feet, but it felt like an insurmountable chasm. Ever since they had found the real – no, original. Not real. Original – Roy Harper, he and Jade had slowly slid apart again. Roy had been more focused on helping his "brother", and Jade had been focused on trying to kill Kaldur'ahm. Which, Roy thought, he was _very_ glad she hadn't done.

But there was a distance between them now. An awkwardness they couldn't overcome. Lian or no Lian, they had drifted apart. He knew that. And, by the looks of things, so did she.

"Look, Roy," started Jade, uncharacteristically uncertain. "I…" She sighed. "I think we should get a divorce."

Roy blinked, taken aback, but really, it wasn't that big a surprise. She was thinking the same things he was.

"Okay," he said.

Now it was Jade's turn to look taken aback. "Okay?" she echoed.

Roy nodded. "Yeah, okay. We haven't been a couple in how long? You and I weren't even one when you brought Lian the first time." He shrugged. Fiddled with his coffee mug and took a deep drink from it. It was still a little too hot and burnt the tip of his tongue.

"I can get the divorce papers to you by tomorrow," said Jade. "Then we can finalize it."

"What about Lian?" asked Roy. "Can I still see her?"

Jade scoffed. "Obviously." She fidgeted, grimaced, and kept going. "Actually, you'll be the only one seeing her for a while. I've got a couple missions lined up."

"Oh?" said Roy, not bothering to hide the worry on his face. "League of Shadows?" he guessed.

Jade scoffed again. "The League is dead. No one knows where Ra's is and his daughter wants nothing to do with any _foreigners_." She rolled her eyes, stretching out the word until it sounded more like a curse.

"So who're you working for?" asked Roy.

Jade looked away. "Just a few people. Nothing too serious – I'm not killing anyone," her gaze darted up to him, "if that's what you want to know. Just retrieval missions."

Roy nodded, feeling a weight lift off his shoulders. He wasn't sure if he could keep it to himself if Jade was off being an assassin. Friend (and wife) or not, Jade was a villain, and he had realigned himself with the Justice League and the Team. He felt compelled to keep people safe.

"How long will you be gone?" asked Roy.

"I don't know," said Jade. "I'll be back as soon as I can, and I've got my Dad off your trail, so you shouldn't have to deal with anyone coming after Lian to try and raise her into some supervillain super-assassin."

"Good to know," said Roy, drily. He was pretty sure he could take Sportsmaster, these days. He hoped, anyway.

Jade looked back toward the bedroom, a soft longing in her eyes.

"Do you have to go?" asked Roy.

Jade nodded. "Money, favours, yadda yadda," she said, dismissive. "No choice." She sighed. "I should go."

Roy stepped forward and, without a second thought, enveloped her in a hug. Jade started, her body tense, then relaxed and hugged him back.

"Stay safe," Roy mumbled into her hair.

"I'll try," Jade said into his shoulder. The two pulled back and Roy cracked his trademark crooked smile at her. Jade smirked in response, kissed his cheek, and headed for the window.

"See you on the other side," said Jade, and then she was out his window and disappeared into the night. Roy shook his head, fond and worried all at once. She could handle whatever the world threw at her, Roy told himself, but the words were hollow even in his head.

Lian started crying, then. With a fond sigh, Roy headed back into his room, ready to help his daughter with whatever was going on.

* * *

 _Mars. August 28_ _th_ _, 21:00 UTC_

Standing next to B'arzz, M'gann thought she should have been more at ease than she was. But here, in the Martian Unity, she couldn't afford to be at ease. Every thought, every feeling, every _word_ had to be perfectly regulated and controlled so that no one knew what she was or what she was lying about.

A diplomat full of secrets, it was a wonder Mars even wanted her here.

" _Are you all right?"_ asked B'arzz, his warmth flooding M'gann's senses. Cherry today, closer to the ice cream than the fruit. It was a fond taste, one of memory. She gave a slight mental nod – an incline only visible to him.

" _Fine_ ," she said, but the tart, rotten flavour of her words betrayed her fear. She grimaced, the gesture frustrated and like lightning through their shared thoughts. It tore through the cherry flavour until nothing remained by M'gann's sour.

B'arzz's sigh brushed the tips of her ears, drifting across her thoughts like a cool summer breeze. The rot vanished, leaving sea salt.

" _M'gann, you worry too much_ ," he said.

" _I don't worry enough."_ Twigs cracked across her memory and their jagged edges followed her words. A forest, on fire. Trees, falling. Anger, building. She shut it off as quickly as it started. B'arzz glanced at her, physically, out of the corner of his eye. M'gann tried not to let the heat show in her face or her mind. But the too fast beating of her heart echoed in their shared mind space, betraying her shame.

" _Sorry_." Her words were empty, void of any emotion or connotation that would make them seem genuine.

B'arzz sighed again, but he did not reply. M'gann returned her attention to the final moments of this meeting of the Martian Unity.

" _-and we thank our Earth ambassador and fellow Martian, M'gann, for all her help in these proceedings, and for showing us the way to unity with Earth,"_ one member of the Council was saying.

" _And for defeating Ma'alefa'ak, who had escaped our custody,_ " said another.

" _With that in mind,"_ said a third. _"The Martian Unity has agreed to allow Earth to send up a second diplomatic satellite, and we will begin diplomatic discussion between our two planets!_ " Fireworks burst across M'gann's mind and cheers and whoops flitted through one after the other on the surface as people celebrated. There were a few underlying grumbles, but they were far outweighed by those who wanted this diplomacy to begin.

" _This meeting of the Martian Unity is now dismissed_ ," said the entire Council at once.

M'gann sighed, soft but audible, and floated out of the building and back into the caves. B'arzz followed her, both his mind and body quiet as he waited for M'gann to say something. Then, when he seemed to realize she wasn't going to, he reopened the mental connection between them.

" _Are you all right, M'gann?"_ he asked. Flicker flashes of concern, many of them from his days on Earth, danced behind her eyes. A soft smile from her, viewed through his eyes. She shook them off and sent him a quiet smile. It lacked connotation. It lacked meaning.

" _I want to go home,"_ she said. Images of her friends bloomed, unheeded, in the space between them. Gar's gentle laugh, Artemis' sharp wit, Conner's quiet concern, and all the others. Kaldur and Roy and Zatanna and Bruce and so many others that meant so much to her.

" _You did well,"_ said B'arzz. He reached out, a tendril of his own, somewhat brotherly, platonic love for her brushing against the sadder parts of her psyche. She sighed and wrapped herself around it.

" _Thank you for all your help, B'arzz,"_ she said. His name was his redemption, a moment of power and strength as B'arzz became himself again on Earth, free from the Reach. _"I couldn't have done this without you."_ A pause. _"Are you coming with me?"_

" _No,"_ said B'arzz. _"I will stay, to keep diplomatic relations open. May I call, if I need you?"_

M'gann gave a mental nod, which tickled her nose. _"Of course. May I do the same?_ "

B'arzz's response was a mental and physical hug. A twisting of their concern and their affection for one another, twining up and up until their psyches were intertwined beyond recognition. Then, with an exhale, they peeled themselves away from each other, until they were two separate people again.

" _I hope to see you again soon,"_ said M'gann.

" _Good luck, M'gann,_ " said B'arzz, and from him, her name was freedom and it was peace and it was unfiltered kindness.

M'gann turned and flew off down the caves and back toward the Bioship. Soon she would be home again. Soon, she would be herself again.


	8. Parallel Force

**Author's Note:** And we're back! Yup, everything is coming out of hiatus now, with any luck. So, we're getting deeper into the story of this world, and more and more things are starting to turn up. How much of it have you already guessed? Cheers, y'all, and thank you to everyone who has continued to support this story! If you like this chapter, please consider leaving a review, they always make me happy and it's a great extra incentive for me to write faster.

* * *

 _Mars. September 5_ _th_ _, 08:00 UTC_

With everything settled on Mars, M'gann was cleared to head back to Earth, and she couldn't be happier. She had everything on the Bioship packed up early that morning, ready to fly off as soon as Martian Air cleared her.

B'arzz was waiting with her as M'gann performed the last minute checks on her Bioship, stroking one of her wings softly as she performed the necessary scans.

 _"_ _You will be missed, M'gann,"_ said B'arzz. The honey thick warmth of his voice coated M'gann's tongue and sent half-formed memories of their time together dancing behind her eyes.

She smiled at him, the warmth oozing between them and wrapping up his memories into a neat package. _"You can visit,_ " said M'gann. She reached out and touched B'arzz's inner wrist with one hand. _"I'm sure the Team would love to have you back, after all you've done for us."_ A split-second vocal memory of B'arzz being freed. Flicker-flashes of other memories, of times when B'arzz had helped them since, of his speaking with Jaime, and a few more B'arzz hadn't been present for, besides.

 _"_ _I will_ ," said B'arzz, taking her hands in his. His smile curled around her shoulders like a blanket, warming M'gann to her toes. _"Stay safe on your journey home_."

 _"_ _I will,"_ said M'gann. She let her own smile dance between their shared mind space, sparkling and giggly. The all-clear signal came, a flash of green at the edges of her mental vision. She flew in close and gave B'arzz a hug, something not common on Mars but far too familiar for her. He hugged her back, the smell of wildflowers in the Mars caves lingering between them. And then M'gann pulled back and hesitated one last time. An unspoken question lingering between the two.

 _"_ _You should come,"_ thought M'gann, without realizing.

B'arzz's regret and friendship clung together as though they belonged together. The taste was savoury in M'gann's mind. _"I cannot, M'gann. But you will be fine."_ He reached out and stroked her hair back from her face. Flashes of J'onn and Conner doing the same gesture danced between them. _"Stay safe."_

 _"_ _And you as well."_

M'gann flew into her Bioship and took off, stroking the helm as she did. The ship hadn't gotten much use while M'gann was on Mars, and M'gann knew that she was uneasy about being left with all the other ships. She'd done well, especially with shielding M'gann's bio-signature, and M'gann thought she might fly the Bioship across the Caribbean Sea later, as a treat. She'd always liked the fish there the best.

She flew out of the caves of Mars and into the open sky. Stars glittered all around M'gann and the ship as she slipped out of Mars' pull and headed for Earth. The ship was already keyed into flying for the Watchtower, and M'gann leaned back, leisurely steering when she had to.

M'gann checked her sensors and, for a split-second, she saw a blip on her radar. She frowned and scanned everything around her with both the ship and her mind. Nothing came up.

"You a little out of practice, girl?" asked M'gann. The ship beeped, almost insulted. M'gann giggled. "All right, all right, sorry I asked."

For a time, they were silent. M'gann was content to think over her plans once she got home, and the ship kept her safe as they flew. This had always been M'gann's favourite part of flying. The way two minds could become one, the way she and the Bioship united to form a perfect combination of precision and relaxation. It was something no one else who flew the ship understood, but that was because this ship was hers. They were friends, almost sisters, and M'gann would trade her ship for nothing else in this world.

The Bioship swung closer toward Earth and M'gann sucked in a breath. From this angle, she could see the Sun coming up over the Earth. Its brilliant rays gleaming as it cast half the planet in its beautiful light.

"We're heading home, girl," whispered M'gann. She stroked the ship's helm again and the ship hummed around M'gann. "It's been too long."

* * *

 _El Paso. September 5_ _th_ _, 20:16 MDT_

Jaime rapped at the door and leaned against the porch, whistling to himself with his hands stuffed in his hoodie pockets. It was a cool evening in El Paso, the sun having set sometime in the last forty minutes, and Jaime was glad to be somewhere familiar. He'd spent far too much time flying around and up on the Watchtower lately. Sure, he liked his teammates, and it was interesting to learn more about the Justice League and their dynamics – or lack thereof, as Batgirl had muttered last week – but he'd missed his friends, his family, and his home. Especially after everything had happened with the Reach.

The door swung open and Mrs. Longshadow smiled up at him, her eyes impossibly warm against the yellow light of the porch. Jaime hugged her loosely, the scent of cinnamon and smoke clinging to her hair from whatever she'd made for dinner.

He stepped back and said, "It's good to see you."

She smiled and gestured for him to come in. "It's good to see you too, Jaime. Tye and Asami have missed you."

Jaime stepped into the house and shoved his hands back into his pockets, answering a few quick questions about school – he'd just started, it was fine – his after school activities – he delivered papers, according to her – and his relationships – he wasn't in one, no, he had no interest in one right now. She hadn't looked convinced; Jaime hadn't understood why.

Then, he was disappearing down the stairs and into the basement, which had been converted into Asami's bedroom and a hangout space for everyone she wanted down there.

"Jaime, my man," said Tye as Jaime came down the stairs. Sam grinned at him from where she was tucked against Tye's side, playing Overwatch on the PS4. She was playing Tracer, which Jaime figured made sense, given her powers.

"Tye," said Jaime. He bumped fists with Tye and dropped down onto the arm chair next to the couch, watching the match until Asami's team lost. She pouted and tossed the control down next to her. The menu music played in the background.

"You're getting better," said Tye. "Just a bit more practice."

"I lose," said Asami. "I always lose." Jaime noted, almost absently, that her English was getting much better. He wondered if Tye would ever try and teach her Navajo, or if she'd try and teach him Japanese. Probably, anyway. Considering both were the other's original first language. Then they'd speak more languages than Jaime did, though Jaime wanted to learn Navajo and Japanese, if they were willing.

 _Unnecessary,_ murmured the Scarab. _I am capable of translating all known languages, including those your primitive planet doesn't have._ Jaime ignored Scarab and rolled his eyes inwardly, hoping he'd recognize the gesture.

"But by less each time," said Tye. Asami rolled her eyes and shoved at him. Jaime noticed she was wearing one of Tye's sweatshirts. "So, dude, how goes the superheroing? Heard from Virg that things are getting pretty wild up there."

Jaime shrugged and leaned back against the arm chair, arms tossed over the sides. "We're dealing with a _lot_ , dude." He rubbed his face. "We've got some freaky energy drink virus – by the way, don't drink Luthor's stuff, it'll probably make you loco."

"Noted," said Tye, drily. Jaime briefly thought of Beast Boy and Bart, who both threw around the phrase these days. He swallowed, chest a little tight for no reason he could discern.

"And then there's stuff with the War World, and we don't know what Luthor's planning, and it's just a mess, Tye." Jaime sighed and stared at the ceiling. "I thought working with the League would mean that we knew more about what was going on in the world, but all it's done is make me realize that they're just as clueless as we are most of the time." He glanced at Tye and Asami, who both watched him curiously. "Guess they're just better at hiding it."

"Guess so," said Tye, slowly. He shook his head. "Seriously, no leads?"

Jaime shrugged. "Define 'lead'," he said. "We found some stuff in the caves with Ugly and Whisper, but other than that…" He shook his head. "I dunno man, they're probably hiding most of it from me. I'm just a freshman."

"You saved the world," said Tye, firmly.

"After I almost destroyed it," Jaime shot back. He shivered as he remembered how he'd felt, being controlled by the Ambassador. A puppet in his own body. Unable to move. To speak. To do anything but beat against the inside of his skull and scream and snarl as he tried to escape.

 _Never again_ , Jaime had vowed.

 _Agreed,_ said the Scarab in his ear. _We will not be taken again, Jaime Reyes._

"Thank you," whispered Jaime. Asami cocked her head. "Scarab," said Jaime, jerking his thumb at his back by way of explanation.

"Can it-" started Tye.

"He," corrected Jaime.

Tye made a face.

"I asked," said Jaime, shrugging. "Scarab's a dude."

"Alright," said Tye. "He then. Can he speak so that we can hear him too?"

 _Technically,_ murmured the Scarab.

Jaime snorted. "Oh yeah, he can. He just prefers to make me look like a crazy person." The last two words were tossed half over his shoulder with a glare. Asami snickered and Jaime cleared his throat. "So, uh, how was your first day?" he asked.

Tye shrugged. "We spent most of it out of class, that's why we didn't see you. Sam is getting set up for ESL classes and I was with counsellors and shit." He rolled his eyes. "They're all convinced I have some 'outstanding trauma' from Maurice."

"Do you?" asked Jaime.

Tye rolled his eyes and snorted. "Nah. He's gone – arrested. S'all I care about. I've got Mom and Sam." He tightened his arm around Asami as he said that and she smiled, tucking herself closer to him.

"What about Ed?" asked Jaime. "He all right?"

"He's Ed," said Tye. Ah, Jaime knew what that was like. It was how they described Bart, most days, up on the Watchtower. "He's fine. Told us so earlier."

Jaime nodded and stretched, eyes sliding up to the ceiling. It was good to see that Tye and Asami and Ed were doing well. But he couldn't help but feel a bit jealous at how close Tye and Asami were. Not because he was attracted to either of them, but because he and Tye had spent almost no time together over the summer. Jaime knew that was largely on him. He'd been busy with mission stuff and he hadn't had a chance to hang out much. It wasn't Tye's fault he had a girlfriend now.

Though Jaime couldn't help but wonder what it'd be like if _he_ had a girlfriend too. Someone with brown hair and green eyes, maybe. He really liked green eyes. And shorter then him too, he liked the idea of ducking to kiss someone.

"Dude, you okay?" asked Tye. "You've got hearts in your eyes."

"Huh?" Jaime turned his attention back to Tye and Asami, blinking. "Yeah, fine, hermano."

Tye looked like he wanted to protest that, but before he could, Jaime's phone went off. He dug it out of his pocket and caught sight of Batgirl's number.

"Hello?" he asked, brow furrowed. Asami cocked her head.

 _"_ _Jaime! Get to Gotham. There's a situation. We need all our heavy hitters,"_ came Batgirl's sharp voice.

He nodded, already standing. "On it, gimme ten minutes." The nearest Zeta-Beam was closer than that with the Scarab at full speed, but he needed to be careful not to be seen switching.

 _"_ _Hurry,"_ said Batgirl, and then she hung up.

Jaime looked to Tye and Asami. "I gotta go," he said.

"Hero stuff, right," said Tye. "Good luck, dude."

"Be safe," said Asami.

Jaime nodded and ran up the stairs, already calculating the fastest route to the nearest Zeta-Beam.

* * *

 _Gotham. September 5_ _th_ _, 22:20 EDT_

Tim frowned as he and Bruce studied the strange red mark on the ground. It was similar to the one he and Bruce had found a few days ago. A strange red helmet with the eye holes unpainted. Tim took a sample of the dried paint and looked up at Bruce.

With his cowl on, it was almost impossible to pick out Bruce's expressions, but Tim had gotten used to picking them up through other things. The pull of his jaw, the set of his shoulders, the shift in his hands. Tonight, it all betrayed Bruce's tenseness in tiny gestures. Tim pressed his lips together. He was worried about Bruce, but he couldn't say that out loud. Bruce would just shut him down.

He really wanted to know what was going on with him though. It seemed that the more of these symbols and hideouts they found, the more worried and closed off Bruce became.

What could do that to the unflappable dark knight?

"That's four this week," said Bruce. "He's leaving a trail."

"Why?" asked Tim. He didn't bother asking if Bruce knew who "he" was. He didn't. He'd heard the man grumble about it to Alfred more than once since all of this had started.

Maybe he shouldn't talk to Alfred about all this, thought Tim. Or Black Canary. Both of them were better at this kind of thing than he was. And he couldn't tell Cassie, it wasn't his place to reveal Batman's secrets to other people.

"I don't know," said Bruce, shaking his head slightly. He worked his jaw, obviously grinding his teeth together. Tim tried not to think too hard on it. Or on the fact that Bruce seemed to be saying those three words more and more since this had all started. The fact that Bruce had said them more in the last month than he'd said in the entire time that Tim had worked with him.

It was worrying, to say the least.

Bruce continued, "The point of the eyes says that he moved south. We'll sweep Gotham's south side to see if there's anymore out there tonight."

"Roger that," said Tim. He took one last look at the strange red helmet, frowning tightly, and then followed Bruce out the window and into the streets of Gotham via grappling hook.

The two swung through the city easily. The shadows of the night had already settled over Gotham, leaving the smog of the sky to smear the stars out of existence. In the shadows, they were invisible. Dark Knight and Boy Wonder, hidden for all the world to search for, but never find.

It was comforting, in a way, to have the darkness of Gotham envelope him like an old friend. It fit better than the undercover missions or the daytime sneaking around. He'd never planned to become Robin, never thought that this would be his life. But the longer he spent in the costume, and the longer he spent with Batman in the streets of Gotham, the more they started to feel like home.

It scared him, a bit.

"Robin," said Bruce. His voice was sharp. Tim snapped his gaze up to see a painted helmet against one wall. He stared, eyes wide. This was the closest two of them had ever been. And, by the streetlamp's light, Tim could tell the paint was still wet.

"Well, well, well," called a voice. Tim's head snapped up. Four stories up, leaned against the railing of the fire escape, one foot on the lower bar, one on the metal grates, was a figure in a leather jacket and a red helmet with eye slits. "Wondered how long it'd take for you to catch up to me."

The figure – Tim assumed they were a man – turned his attention to Tim. A chuckle slipped into his next words. "Nice outfit, kid. Custom made?"

Tim swallowed.

"Who are you?" asked Bruce. His voice was sharp and tight, the Bat-growl turning the words to a snarl. "What do you want with Gotham?"

The figure shrugged and stepped back. "If you wanna ask questions, Bats, you better be willing to catch me first." He gave a salute, then back-flipped over the fire escape. His hands hit the railing and he switched into a hand spring, and then he landed on the roof. Tim stared. He'd only ever seen a handful of people manage that move.

The figure grinned. "Come and get me."

"Move," said Bruce, sharply. He and Tim grappled up to the roof and tore off after the figure. They chased him across the rooftops, capes flying out behind them as they followed. He was fast, agile, and knew the city like the back of his hand. He shifted across roof tops – from runs to rolls to leaps and bounds that had Tim struggling to keep his eyes on the figure.

It was impossible to keep up. Impossible to catch him. It was almost like he knew what they were going to do, even before they did it.

But that was impossible.

As they ran, Bruce muttered something dark under his breath, and on the next leap, Bruce shot out a line at the figure's leg. It wrapped around his ankle, and in the split second before it went taunt, the figure turned, sliced through the cable, and disappeared into the shadows of the city.

Bruce and Tim pulled up short on that roof, both of them scanning for the figure. But he was gone.

"Where'd he learn to do that?" asked Tim, looking up at Bruce. Bruce said nothing. He was holding the cut line that he'd shot at the figure, frowning tightly. "Batman?" Tim knew those cables well. They were as strong as steel, if not stronger. Where did that guy even get a knife that could go through one of those cables like warm butter? And, for that matter, how had he known Bruce was going to shoot the cable at him?

Nothing made any sense.

His com link went off and Tim tapped it.

 _"_ _Robin!"_ It was Batgirl. _"Get to the Gotham Harbour, now. We need help. There's someone tearing up the city."_ Tim swung his gaze to the Gotham Harbour – across the city – and saw one of the blimps go down into the harbour. From this distance, he couldn't hear it touch down.

"Be right there," he said. He clicked off his com and turned his attention to Bruce. "I have to go."

Bruce said nothing. He kept staring at the line, clenched between his fists.

"Batman?" Bruce's head came up. "I have to go help the team."

"Go," said Bruce, voice distant. "I've…" He cleared his throat. The Bat-growl was gone, leaving only Bruce. "I've got this." But he wouldn't look at Tim when he said it.

With a slow, hesitant nod, Tim turned, shot a line, and swung off toward the harbour. He'd sort this out later. After he helped stop the figure at the harbour.

* * *

 _Gotham. September 5_ _th_ _, 23:16 EDT_

Conner hit the harbour just minutes after Barbara had called him. He bolted for the docks, already ringing up his com again and getting everyone - Barbara, Bart, Cassie, Tim, and Jaime – on the line.

"Everyone on?" he asked. Various agreements and shouts of "hello" came back at him. All voices were accounted for. He nodded and skid out from behind one of the shipping containers just in time to see a blonde figure in a trench coat go sprinting past. Her eyes were glowing, and Conner saw lasers shoot out of them a moment later and blow up the shipping container in front of her.

"Hey!" shouted Conner. The girl turned and stared at him, eyes blue again. She said something that was mostly garbled by her own trembling voice. And then she turned and ran again.

"She's headed for the warehouses," said Conner, one finger on the com. He sprinted after her. Leaped up and watched her swing around another corner. More lasers. She cried out, the sound sharp in his ears, and something froze in front of her. Conner faltered as he touched down.

Lasers? Frost breath? It couldn't be.

It _couldn't._

"Got her!" came Cassie's voice over the coms. Conner swung around a corner just in time to see Cassie lasso the girl. The girl lifted into the air, kicking and screaming, and took Cassie with her. Cassie yelped. The girl jerked and the lasso came free, falling back onto Cassie as she recovered and held steady.

Conner watched the girl float higher into the air. She screamed again, grabbing at window sills and fire escapes to hold herself still. He could hear sirens in the background as emergency vehicles sped closer and closer.

"Batgirl, Robin, keep them off us," said Conner into the com. "Beetle, Wonder Girl, bring her down." He leaped for a higher roof top, latching onto it and hauling himself up to follow the girl. Cassie and Jaime shot past him, the two spiralling around each other before swinging wide. Cassie went for her lasso again, and Jaime went for some sonic cannon. She lassoed, he blasted, and the girl was tossed down onto the rooftop, the lasso wrapping around her.

She screamed and cried out, scrambling to get up and get away. Part of the trench coat was wet from melting ice and one sleeve was singed from her lasers.

As Conner approached her, her words solidified for a split second and he froze. The words ran over in his head and slotted themselves into place.

 _Kryptonian._

"Not possible," he breathed.

"I'll tell you what's not possible, this girl's stamina," said Bart, zipping up. "I mean, seriously, so not crash." He ran for the girl and Conner didn't have a chance to shout a warning. The girl swung, eyes glowing, and Bart went flying off the roof and into Cassie.

"Kid!" called Jaime, diving after them both.

And that left Conner and the girl.

 _"_ _Wait!"_ he said, when she went to run. The Kryptonian syllables were heavy in his mouth, but they made her stop. God, he wished he'd practiced more. _"My name… is Kon-El."_

She stared, eyes wide. Her gaze swept across him. Then her eyes started to glow again. Lasers shot out and she cried out, smacking her hands over her eyes and stumbling backward.

 _"_ _Help me,"_ she whimpered. Her Kryptonian was a lot smoother than his, but the fear and break in her voice was messing up her pronunciation, which Conner figured was why he couldn't understand her before.

 _"_ _I can,"_ said Conner. He took a step forward. Then another. She shouted and bolted for the edge of the roof. The lasso hit the ground. She flew off into the air, screaming again. Conner saw Jaime fly up behind her, another cannon already forming.

"Wait!" shouted Conner, back in English. Jaime didn't hear him. He blasted the girl and Conner watched as she fell and slammed into the ground. He leaped over the edge of the roof and touched down next to her. Cassie, Bart, and Jaime all appeared around him.

The girl was unconscious. Laying on the ground, she looked so much smaller than she had before. Vulnerable, almost, despite how much it had taken to bring her down.

"What is she?" asked Cassie. Her voice was barely above a whisper, trepidation in her eyes as she took a step back from the girl.

"I think she's Kryptonian," said Conner. He looked at Barbara and Tim as they approached. Everyone looked just as shocked as he felt. "We need to get her up to the Watchtower."

"Agreed," said Batgirl. "I'll call ahead and make sure they know we're coming."

Conner nodded, and once they were cleared, he picked up the girl, cradling her close, and carried her to the nearest Zeta-Beam. All the while he couldn't help but wonder – just who was this girl? Why was she here? And was she really Kryptonian?

Were he and Superman not alone in the universe?


End file.
